Cyber Moon Part 3: Crystal
by Razor Knight
Summary: After the birth of Crystal Tokyo, the Senshi's battle continues in the future. New enemies and new conflicts will arise, but what challenge can they find now that they're the strongest warriors in this universe? The answer may not be a pleasant one.
1. Dawn of a new age

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 1: Dawn of a new age.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: November 6, 2008_

* * *

Serenity leaned on the balcony's wall, thinking about the past. A past that looked so distant now, but it had only been one year since Crystal Tokyo's birth. One year that had been surprisingly peaceful for her and her friends.

The truth was finally out in the open. The Senshi's identities were no longer a secret, but that didn't matter. No weapon on Earth could harm them, so they weren't worried about surprise attacks. Furthermore, with the magic shield around the city (which Ami had been working to improve lately,) nobody could get in unnoticed by them.

"We've been the rulers of this city for a year now," Endymion said, forcing her mind to return to the present. "I think I'll take some time getting used to this."

Serenity looked at the city and smiled. "Everything is different, but I can still see my friends often. I think I can get used to it."

"Don't you miss fighting?" Endymion asked.

"A part of me does, but... I'm also glad it's over. We beat our strongest foe, and I don't think we'll have to worry about something like that for many years."

"It was all you," Endymion noticed.

"She was strong, I know," Serenity admitted, "but just as with many foes before her, we defeated her as a team, even if you weren't there. I just delivered the final blow, so to speak."

"So, Queen Serenity, have you made any plans for this day?"

Serenity groaned. "Please, you know how much it irks me when you call me that in private."

"Sorry, Usagi," Endymion said.

She smiled at him. "As a matter of fact, today we don't have any official meetings, so I was thinking... Maybe we could go for a picnic at the park?"

"What about our security officers?"

"Hana doesn't mind me walking out of the palace without telling her, unlike Rei... And our dear friend is out of the city right now."

Endymion nodded. "I remember, she was going to meet the Yakuza leaders and try to find a peaceful solution to keep them away from the city."

Serenity smiled. "I told her to not use her powers, unless it was in self-defense."

* * *

Several miles away, in the outskirts of the city formerly known as Tokyo, three women stood looking at a nearly invisible barrier.

"There we go. It now works as it should."

"Are you sure this time around, Ami?"

Ami looked at Hana. "Yes, I've finally rid the system of all its bugs. With this shield on, our city will be literally isolated from the outside world."

"What if I feel like running out of the city for the weekend?"

Ami smiled. Despite the initial, and quite understandable, roughness in their relationship, she considered Hana one of her closest friends. An immortal, just like her, though such a word was crearly being misused. In any case, she knew all of the Crystal Tokyo royalty would be very long-living.

"If you want to do that, you can just teleport outside the shield. It's set to let a selected few travel in and out as they please."

Ami looked at Aiko. She might have looked like a little girl when she started, but as time went by, she had 'aged' her body, and she now looked around the same age as all the other 'immortals' did. "If Rei heard you say that, she'd throw a fit."

"Aunt Rei's a bit too... Enthusiastic with her job," Aiko noted. "Wonder how her meeting's going?"

* * *

Rei Hino looked at the men around the table with obvious, uncontained amusement. The Yakuza had certainly chosen a 'neutral' ground for this meeting, indeed. There were right now around fifty Yakuza leaders, from each and every city in Japan, and she was the only Senshi in the room.

It was clearly an uneven situation, should tempers flare. Uneven for them, as even in her human form, she was more than capable to defeat them all. But she had made a promise to the Queen, and she never broke her promises, specially not those she made to her best friend. But she had made it clear that, human or not, if they attacked her, she was not going to hold back.

Strangely enough, Serenity had no problem with those terms. Maybe it was that, while as a Queen she couldn't allow one of her soldiers to lower herself to kill humans, as a friend she understood her point of view.

Whichever the reason was, she was right now standing in front of a quite large table, with several men older than her (at least in looks, she looked twenty at most, despite being well into her thirties,) who were staring at her and waiting for her to speak.

And speak she did. "Gentlemen, I'm here tonight because Queen Serenity thinks her standing in this issue isn't clear enough, at least for your group. We've seen many of your employees in our city lately, though with the completion of our dome shield, their entrance into the city unnoticed will become an impossibility. However, there is a chance that you try to pass some of your men through, disguised as civilians, and pollute our city. That will not be allowed, and that's why I'm here. If any of you disagrees with what I just said, you're free to speak. I will pass your words to my Queen, as long as such words wouldn't be insulting to her ears."

Many of the Yakuza started murmuring, and a few of them stood up. "Lady Hino, you're telling us we have to forget about Tokyo. You must understand such a large city is a very important target for us, so... What would happen if we don't follow your advice?"

"Whoever is seen inside the city and identified as a Yakuza member will be sent outside of our borders, and I'll make sure he or she doesn't ever step into our city again."

There was a gunshot, and Rei felt the light sting of a bullet bouncing off her stomach. Apparently, one of the Yakuza leaders though that she was vulnerable while in human form. She had even dropped her shield for the meeting, as she knew she wouldn't need it. "I wouldn't do that again if I were you, mister Yanagi."

Yanagi didn't listen, however, and shot a few more bullets at her, all them aimed at her head. Rei didn't even move, the bullets vanished meters away from her as a small barrier of fire appeared in mid-air to protect her. She didn't need the protection, but it was a nice way to tell these men she wasn't playing. "Damn you, Senshi witch!"

Rei snorted as she saw most of the men in the room were now aiming guns at her. "I'm giving you all one last warning. Leave this room now, leave my city alone, and I will not bother you ever again."

The Yakuza were sure that, in the rain of bullets that followed, at least one of them would hit a weak spot, one would harm or kill the fire Senshi. They were wrong, dead wrong. Still, she wasn't going to kill any of them, as she knew they were no match for her. She could, however, roast them a bit and scare them enough for them to never try such a thing again.

Yanagi was the first to drop his gun as a flaming bird appeared right behind Rei. "What is that..."

Rei glared at him. "I gave you all a warning. Now you'll know why trying to kill a Senshi is a bad idea." She noticed a few men were heading for the warehouse's door, and shot a jet of fire at it, completely melting the metal door into its frame. "Sorry, no one leaves until I feel like you've learnt the lesson."

* * *

Two days later, the Senshi of Fire, Sailor Mars, otherwise known as Rei Hino, was back in Crystal Tokyo, and had just finished reporting to the Queen. She knew the Queen wasn't quite happy about how she had dealt with the Yakuza problem, but she also knew she wouldn't be angry about the outcome.

"Rei, I'm quite glad we won't have to deal with Yakuza inside our city in the future, but..."

"We will have to. Those criminals aren't just going to stay out. However, I can tell you that no criminal's going to be roaming freely around the city for a few weeks, at least."

"It was a good thing you decided to heed my request."

"There was no need to kill any of them, and dead men wouldn't relay the horrors of my fire attacks on the rest of their group," Rei said, an amused grin on her face.

Queen Serenity shook her head. "You sound like you enjoyed that, Rei."

"Is it bad for someone to enjoy their job, my Queen?" Rei asked.

Serenity blinked a few times, considering those words, then sighed. "No, I suppose it's not."

"Is there anything else you need?" Rei asked.

"Not right now. You may leave," Serenity said. Though truth be told, Serenity didn't ever force her authority on her friends. If Rei had needed to leave the throne room at any time, Serenity wouldn't have been angry or punish her in any way. After all, she had been friends with them for twenty years now. "But before you leave, how's Hisako doing?"

"She's doing okay, and... She's able to generate fire on her own now, in very small quantities."

"So we will have a ChibiMars around soon," Serenity mused.

"With all due respect, I hope you aren't implying you approve such naming patterns."

Serenity smiled. "Not really, but that will be a choice Hisako herself will have to make."

"Why hasn't your daughter chosen a better name yet?"

"She's used to it, I suppose," Serenity said. "Yet, she's told me about a Senshi called Neo Moon, whom she thinks was herself, during the Dark Moon wars."

"We'll have to wait and see," Rei mused.

* * *

"One year of peace," Hotaru said with a smile.

"One year of complete boredom," ChibiUsa said with a long sigh.

"So, I'm not exciting enough for you?"

"You know that's not what I meant," ChibiUsa muttered. "Maybe I'll go on a trip around the world, I know I'll find something to fight against out there."

"Think we'll find alien dogs again?"

"No, I don't think those idiots will come back." ChibiUsa smiled. Yes, the few years they had spent travelling had been exciting, even though the enemies they fought were nothing compared to their power back then. "I wonder, though, none of those invasions would be a challenge right now."

"I don't like where this is heading," Hotaru said.

"No, I wasn't talking about _them_, but... Think about it, if we had all been at this level back then..."

"Yes, I get your point. There's nothing challenging to fight out there anymore. But that doesn't mean we should not fight evil, no matter how weak it is."

"Yes, that's true. I'll tell mom about this later on, but for now, care taking a walk around the city?"

"You think Rei will let you get out of the palace without throwing a tantrum?"

"With you as my bodyguard? Of course," ChibiUsa joked.

* * *

Terry Zephyr looked at the figures in his laptop and frowned. "These numbers have to be wrong."

"I thought you would be happy about them, sir."

He looked at his secretary and smiled. "You can drop the formal speech when nobody's around, Kyma."

"I know that, but I also know how much it nags you when I don't."

Terry shook his head at her. Taking Kyma in had been a good choice, the alien girl could literally work non-stop (and didn't complain, either,) and was quite smart when it came to numbers, but she could sometimes be a pest. "I like the numbers, but not what they mean. There's literally no competitors in our main field for us."

Kyma was still not seeing his point. "And is that bad?"

"Fighting to be the best is what makes our race progress... Heck, I bet it's the same for all races."

"So you fear the company will become stagnant with time."

"Yes, that's just what I'm fearing," Terry said, then felt something in his mind, and produced his communicator. "Ami?"

"Sorry, but I had to call you as soon as I knew about this... Can you come home right now?"

"What's wrong?"

"I'd rather tell you in person, Terry," Ami said.

Terry nodded. "I'll be right there." Ami was using her poker face, which made it impossible for him to guess if they were good or bad news. Still, he had to find out as soon as possible. "I'll be back in a few minutes... Or maybe not. I'll let you know if I'm not coming back today."

Kyma nodded. "Let's hope it's nothing bad."

* * *

Mako was standing right outside the city, looking at the palace towering above the tall walls. "It's good to be out of there once in a while."

"Out of there?" Karin mused. She put an arm through the nearly invisible barrier. "We're too close to be 'out of there.'"

Mako chuckled. "These last few months were fun."

"What do you mean?"

"The world isn't quite ready for us yet. This will be one fun era."

Karin nodded. "Japan recognized Crystal Tokyo as a separate state, but I've heard other countries dislike this place, or downright hate its very existence. The Fake Utopia, some call us."

"Can't be helped," Mako admitted, "that's mankind for you."

"Think they'll try to nuke us?"

"That would be amusing," Mako said, "and I don't doubt at least one of them will."

"Radiation would be bad."

"It can't get through the barrier."

"Yes, but what about the forests around the city? Moreso, maybe they won't try to attack us, but Japan."

"Now _that_ would be bad," Mako admitted.

"All this talk of war's really ruined the mood, you know?"

"I guess it did," Mako said and leaned closer to Karin, "wonder if we can fix that."

"Oh, I'm sure we can," Karin noted right before Mako kissed her.

"Let's go back home," Mako said.

Karin smiled. "Yeah, I'm not one for outdoors 'activities' myself." Mako looked at her and chuckled before the two vanished.

* * *

Serenity had been surprised by the news, but it wasn't an unpleasant surprise at all. Many of the other Senshi had gathered in the throne room to hear Ami's important news, and everyone seemed happy about it. Everyone but one single Senshi, who wasn't showing her true face right now.

Still, Serenity chose to ignore that for now. "Congratulations, you two. I'm sure the rest of our friends will be happy about it too."

"One more member for our big family."

"About time, guys," Rei teased.

Terry smiled, he could only agree with Rei. Ami was pregnant, a couple months in, actually. Technically, it was their second child, but this wasn't one they could build choosing the gender, looks and 'character.'

"Strange," ChibiUsa said, mostly to herself.

"What's the matter, daughter?" Serenity asked.

"Not much, it's just that your future selves told me the two Mercuries didn't have any children in this era."

"Might be a sign that future's still changing," Endymion noted, "or they chose not to tell you about it, for whatever reason they might have had..."

ChibiUsa nodded, then looked at Hotaru. She seemed upset about something, but she couldn't really tell what it was, and she didn't want to ruin the day for the others. "In any case, I'm happy for you two, but right now we had something planned..."

Hotaru looked at ChibiUsa and then nodded. Yeah, she had noticed it. It was one of the curses of knowing each other so well, and she knew the interrogation would begin in a few minutes.

"What's wrong with those two?" Minako asked as Hotaru and ChibiUsa vanished.

"Nothing's really wrong," Serenity said. Or at least, that's what she hoped. "Now how will we celebrate this event?"

"Uhm, there's no need to..." Ami started.

Serenity rose from her throne and walked to her friend. "If the Queen says there's going to be a party, there's going to be a party."

Ami smiled. "You're as stubborn as always, Usagi."

Serenity smiled back. "Now if you excuse me, I'll be back in a minute."

"What got into her?" Brad asked.

"When you've gotta go, you've gotta go," Minako joked.

"I knew it, she's slowly being infected by his sense of humor," Rei said.

"Sure, blame the handsome, rich, smart guy," Brad muttered.

"I didn't, I blamed you," Rei countered with a grin.

Minako burst out laughing, but stopped as she saw Brad's face. "Eeeh... Sorry."

"I'll have to punish you for that later," Brad said.

"Promise?" Minako asked with a wink. The others stared at her, and she shrugged. "You guys don't know how to have fun."

"If you say so..." Rei muttered, shaking her head. Definitely, Minako was still the same.

* * *

"So, what's the problem?"

Hotaru stopped walking. She just knew it, this girl wouldn't leave the matter alone. "The problem is, there should be no problem, but there is."

"Right, you're talking in riddles, just like Pluto. That's cute," ChibiUsa noted.

Hotaru leaned on a wall and took a deep breath. "You know I love you, but what I need to say might harm us both."

"Hotaru, I've never doubted us. I'm ready to take anything our love may bring along."

"That's the problem... I'm not so sure I'm ready for that anymore."

The princess wasn't as smart as Ami or Terry (by a longshot, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it,) but she could see just _what_ was bothering Hotaru. "I get it. I know what your problem is."

"I feel terrible, I should be happy for them, but... I'm jealous of them, actually. I don't want us torn apart by this, but I don't know what to do."

"Then we should go with our plan sooner than we thought. I'll tell Serenity about it."

"No, I will," Hotaru said. "Are you really okay with this?"

"I don't know, I had never given this issue any thought, but there's one thing I know. I love you, Hotaru, and I'll always be there for you."

"Thanks..." Hotaru smiled. "Now let's tell Serenity about..."

"No need for that."

"Mom, you shouldn't eavesdrop."

"Sorry, but I needed to know what you were so upset about, Hotaru."

"Serenity, I..."

"Drop the title," Serenity said.

"Right. Usagi, I really don't know what to say. You must think I'm a terrible person, but I..."

"Not at all," Serenity smiled, "trust me, I understand your feelings. I'm a mother, after all. And I've also thought about this, about what your love meant. There won't be a younger Saturn, or a younger ChibiMoon, but if you really do love each other, you can get through this."

Hotaru looked down. "About that trip..."

"Go ahead," Serenity said, "the city will be okay, you can come back after you've cleared your minds."

"Thanks, Usagi," Hotaru said with a smile.

Serenity smiled as the two turned and walked away. Her mind, however, was quite busy. Was there really no way for them? Adoption could be an option, but she wasn't sure they would agree to that. And what about the other couples, were they also thinking that way? Too many questions without an answer, and she really hated when that happened.

* * *

It had been several days since they left the city. Crazy as it sounded at first, they had travelled on foot until they reached Osaka. That had given them both a lot of time to think things through, but once they were there, they saw a new, large cruise ship was going to leave that very day. Using her title, the Princess was able to get two tickets for that ship, and now they were there, looking out to the ocean.

Travelling like this wasn't really something they were forced to do. They were, nowadays, able to teleport several thousand miles at a time, and without much waste of mana. But that wasn't quite enjoyable, and the Senshi did prefer to use normal means of transportation whenever possible.

ChibiUsa could feel it, all around her. Mana flowing freely, unlike before. One of the first things her mother did after her transformation was to free the mana wells, which meant Tokyo wasn't a magic magnet anymore. The whole Earth was now flooded with mana, as it was meant to be.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just doing a lot of thinking."

Hotaru smiled. "Me too, I've been doing a lot of thinking myself. I can't go back to the city the way things are right now."

"Then we'll stay away. For as long as you need."

"Aren't you bothered by that too?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "I am, I may not be Queen Serenity's carbon copy, but I... I know exactly how you feel, Hotaru. And I wish there was a way to solve this."

"I doubt even magic can help in this one," Hotaru said. "But... Let's just enjoy the trip, okay?"

"Eh, this is actually quite boring," ChibiUsa noted staring out at the sea. "Cruise ships always sounded quite dull to me."

"Maybe we could go for a swim," Hotaru joked pointing at the sea. It wasn't like they couldn't catch up with the ship later on.

ChibiUsa looked to the left and frowned. "Damn, evil approaches."

"Huh?"

"Reporters. At least three of them, and all with cammeras."

"Too late to run and hide."

"Maybe we can give them something to write about."

"What do you..." Hotaru was silenced by a deep kiss, and blushed. "Bet Shingo will have a fit about this."

ChibiUsa chuckled, noticing the reporters were still spying on them. Yes, Shingo was in charge of Crystal Tokyo's public relationships, along with Umino, and that included keeping an eye on what newspapers around the world published about the city and its rulers. "Maybe we should have used disguises."

"No, that wouldn't be as fun for me."

"I have an idea. I'll be right back." The princess vanished and reappeared right behind the three reporters. "May I ask you three a question?"

The three were quite surprised by her civil approach. "Yes, of course."

"Were you three following us?"

"Oh, not at all," one of the trio said, "we're here to cover this ship's maiden trip. We didn't expect you to be here."

She knew they weren't lying about that, her senses told her that clearly. "About those picture you took..."

"If you don't want it published, we will destroy them."

The princess shook her head. "I'm not going to bully you because of who I am, but we two are in this trip to take our minds out of some troubles we had." She realized she might be saying a bit too much. "I don't want you to put words in my mouth, either."

"Getting an interview with one of you is near impossible," another reporter noted.

"Here's the deal, then, I'll give you an interview, but only if you don't spy on us for the rest of this trip."

"We weren't really..."

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, of course."

"Good." ChibiUsa vanished from their side, and appeared next to Hotaru. "These three are harmless. I'll give them an interview, and then we can keep on enjoying this trip."

"An interview, huh? What about me?"

ChibiUsa smiled slyly. "Oh come on. I'm Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo. You're just... Saturn."

Hotaru gave her a half-hearted glare. "Don't make me glaive-slap you, Chibi."

The princess giggled. "Okay, I guess they may be interested in asking you a few questions, too."

"This trip's not going to be so dull after all, I guess."

* * *

Several meters below them, a few men were discussing their plans for the cruise. "Is everything ready?"

"Of course, boss. We'll take over this ship and bring it to our base. After that, we will turn all the passengers and crew into our servants."

"Good. Group alpha will take over the bridge. I will await your signal with group beta and then disable the rest of the crew."

* * *

"So... Exactly how is it that you look like that?"

"You mean, that I still look like a teenager?" ChibiUsa asked. "I don't really think it can be explained, but the Queen's crystal, and my own, they keep our bodies from aging... And they also work with the rest of the Senshi."

"I've heard rumors pointing to that, but you're the first to confirm them," one of the reporters noted. "We can tell you two are a couple. Doesn't anyone in Crystal Tokyo have a problem with that?"

"Do you?" Hotaru asked.

"No."

"You're a bad liar," ChibiUsa noted, "but everyone's entitled to their opinion. I'm sure there are citizens who also think our love is wrong, but that's not going to change the facts."

"Moving on," the reporter said, then saw ChibiUsa stand up. "Is there a problem?"

"There's something in this ship, something evil," ChibiUsa said. "We'll have to postpone the rest of this interview."

As the two Senshi vanished, the reporters stood there, looking at each other. "Something evil, in this ship?"

"It's a good chance to get to see them in action."

The third reporter shook his head at that idea. "You two are insane."

"You can stay here and miss the action if you like," the first reporter noted, "but I'm not wasting this chance."

"I still think you're insane," the third reporter noted as the three rushed out of the room.

* * *

The six men had been expecting no resistance from the ship's crew, and that had been quite right. Their kin couldn't be easily stopped by normal humans, and they had been doing this for one year. Still, they never expected to have the kind of resistance they were about to face.

The man closer to the door never really knew what had hit him. The others could see the door flying forwards, knocking the poor idiot down, and blasting through the bridge's front windows. As they turned to see who had attacked, they froze.

"No way, what are those witches doing here?"

Saturn walked in casually. "Chibi, it's incredible that you managed to sense their magic. They're weak."

"Weak? Hah!" One of the men shot a lightning arc at Saturn, who just stood there, unphased by the attack. "What?"

"Oh, this is the part where I fall down, twitching in pain, right?" Saturn mused. "Surrender now, before we start attacking you. You won't really like that."

Several beams came out of the other men's hands, all striking Saturn, but none causing any real damage. "Now I know what Galaxia felt when she fought us," the Death Senshi mused to herself.

ChibiMoon, who had been watching the action from the corridor, walked into the room, and the men took a step back. One invincible Senshi witch was already bad, but two of them? And they knew who this one was, her suit's uniform gave it away. Pink would've been something to mock in a warrior, if they hadn't heard tales of how well this girl fought. They knew very well this was Princess Serenity, also known as ChibiMoon, the second strongest Senshi. And second strongest in a group where the weakest of them could vaporize a small town wasn't something to shrug off at.

"This is bad, we have to tell the boss a..." The man froze in fear. The pink-suited girl had appeared right next to him, and was looking at him in a way that reminded him of a hungry wolf looking at a sheep. "... This is not worth dying for. I surrender."

"Good choice," ChibiMoon noted, then felt something poking her back. She turned back to see one of the men holding the knife he had just tried to stab her with. "Not a good choice," she said, pushing the man back and sending him crashing into the far wall of the room. "Oops."

"Fuck this," another man said, "we're not going to win."

ChibiMoon smiled. "That's quite right." She reached out her hands, and the area was filled by a pink dust. As the dust vanished, everyone was unconscious, except for the two Senshi.

"Neat trick," Saturn noted. "So, let's go get the rest of this merry gang."

As the two Senshi vanished, the three reporters walked in. They had been right in time to take a few good pictures of the fight, and were now looking at all the unconscious people around them, both of the gang that was trying to take over the ship, and the crew. "Where do you think they're going?"

An explosion was heard, and the other reporter smiled. "Let's follow the noise."

* * *

Saturn was still angry. Angry at herself, angry because she couldn't find a solution to her problem, and unfortunately for these men, they were the only ones she could use as punching bags right now.

ChibiMoon was quite impressed. She had seen her fight, many times, but not like this. She was managing to hold back, but at the same time, she was holding back only enough to not kill any of them.

The reporters had reached the scene of the fight a minute ago, and had seen Saturn use a wraith to throw one of the evil men out of the ship. From that moment on, she wasn't even using her magic anymore, she just used raw physical strength, but that didn't make her one-sided fight with these mysterious men boring to look at.

As the last of them fell, however, Saturn wasn't satisfied. Her eyes were white and she was scanning the room, looking for more targets. The few passengers that were conscious were either too scared or too awed by her to dare moving a muscle.

"Hotaru, it's over."

"It can't be over yet. This was too easy. There has to be a boss somewhere."

ChibiMoon walked to her and smiled. "The boss? That was the first loser you threw out the window. Now calm the heck down before I make you calm down myself."

Saturn looked at her and then closed her eyes. It had happened only once in the past, but she remembered what she had almost done that one time. And right now, she also knew that she couldn't win against ChibiMoon in a fight. No, she _didn't_ want to fight her, unless it was for fun. "Right, sorry about that."

"Don't worry," ChibiMoon said, then looked around. "But I would dare saying we're not going to be left alone for the rest of the trip."

As the crowd started cheering for them, Saturn smiled. "That's the curse of being heroes."

"I see it as a blessing," ChibiMoon said.

Saturn knew that all too well. ChibiMoon didn't search for the spotlight, but she didn't run from it, either. But she wondered what these men were after, and if there were more of them around. She would have to interrogate a few of them once they woke up.

* * *

**A/N:** As you see, episodes in this saga will be longer than those in Chronicles, but don't worry, I don't plan on releasing a hundred episodes for this one. Just ninety.

I kid, I kid.

As for enemies, there will be a few 'major' enemies now and then, but nothing too overwhelming until the final arc (but as usual, I'm not going to spoil anything about that.)

Also wanted to note that there will be a lot of fast-forwards between scenes in this one, since I'm going to show over one thousand years of future.

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**_ Sailor Moon is a creation of Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank her for creating such wonderful universe.


	2. Visitors

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 2: Visitors.**

_**By Razor Knight**_

_**Last update: November 11, 2008**_

* * *

As Rei walked home that day, she found something she wasn't really expecting to see. At least not yet.

"Hi mom," the girl in the red Senshi suit said with a smile.

"Hisa?" Rei gasped, "but how..."

"I'm not sure yet, I gathered mana as usual to practice, but suddenly I found myself wearing this suit."

No doubt about it, it was a Senshi suit, Mars' first level Senshi suit. "That means you're Sailor Mars now."

"Huh, but why is the suit so different to yours?"

Rei transformed, then smiled. "Because Senshi have different power levels, I had explained that to you. You're now at the first level, the weaker one, but still strongest than most non-Senshi magic users can dream of being."

"Aww, I thought I would be at Holy level too."

"That would be bad," Mars admitted.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because the quantity of mana this level handles is too much for those who didn't get past the previous forms."

"Oh. Then, I'll have to get stronger on my own, right?"

"I could help you train," Mars said, "when I'm not at work."

"And I can help with that, too," Yuu said walking into the room right then. He looked at the two and chuckled. "She looks almost like you did first time I saw you fight."

Mars nodded. "So, how should we call you?"

"Younger Mars," the new Mars said, "I think it's a good name."

"Yeah," Mars said. Much better than Serenity's guess, at least.

* * *

Hotaru saw a couple small kids run by, followed by their mother. She wasn't feeling that bad anymore, these vacations had helped her a lot.

One week had passed since the cruise, and the interrogation had lead them to an uncharted island in-between Australia and Africa. There was a whole clan of mages there, who had been robbing ships and planes for several months. They weren't much of a challenge for two Senshi, truth to be told, and their leader's strongest magic blast had no effect on them.

Their guess had been right, Senshi were too strong now, so they couldn't really hope for a challenge to appear so easily. However, after that island had been raided and the mages were sent to a special prison, they both had decided to visit Europe.

Hotaru was walking through the streets of Paris now, but ChibiUsa had stayed at the hotel. She had no destination in mind, and despite not looking for trouble, trouble found her after a while.

She turned to the group of men following her. She didn't need to ask to know what they wanted, it was obvious from the way they were looking at her. _"If I were you, I would run away as fast as I could."_ She said in the best French she could manage.

_"Oh, the girl thinks she can get us all,"_ one of the men said, causing a round of laughter from all the others.

"Ten against one, that's quite unfair," she noted, not bothering with the local language. She called upon her transformation, and smiled at their faces. With this new power level, the Senshi had soon learnt that they didn't need to call upon their transformations or attacks as they always had. Just thinking about an attack made it manifest itself.

_"This is impossible, one of those Senshi witches?"_

_"It must be a Lesser Senshi,"_ another man noted.

Saturn snorted. Yes, the Lesser Senshi, as they were usually called. People who had been born with the ability to manipulate mana, and now that they could do it freely, decided to play pretend and get fake Senshi suits. Their power wasn't really anything worth worrying about, since all the Lesser Senshi she had seen were newbies. Also, they lacked the 'mana gathering' of real Senshi, something Ami had explained to them once. Senshi didn't need to call upon the mana in the air or their planets the moment they were going to throw an attack, they unconsciously gathered it even when they weren't in Senshi form. And if they consciously and actively gathered it... Well, she had twice seen what that could cause, when Mars lost Yuichiro.

In any case, she wasn't a Lesser Senshi, and she was going to show them that very clearly. "Death's Caress."

Eight of the ten men fell to the ground before they could even know what had hit them, and the other two stared in shock at the ghastly figures who had knocked their partners out. _"What are those things?"_

_"She's... She's Sailor Saturn! The real one!"_ _"Yes, you're correct,"_ Saturn admitted, _"And you better heed my words and get away from here. I haven't killed your buddies, but they will be out for a while. You're lucky I'm not in a worst mood, or I would throw you all into jail myself."_

The two men were gone in a few seconds, racing down the street and out of her sight. However, she heard a clapping sound and turned to see two other Senshi there, in their civilian forms. "Oh, I didn't know you two were here."

Chie smiled. "I always wanted to visit Paris."

Saturn noticed something, her powers let her sense the souls of others, and she could see two souls in Chie. She knew what that meant almost instantly. "You're pregnant."

"You noticed?" Chie asked, surprised since her belly wasn't still large enough to be noticeable. "Yeah, there may be a small Lilith around someday."

Saturn flinched. "That's... Nice."

"You look upset," Kage noted.

Saturn returned to her normal form, and nodded as the three started walking away from the men she had knocked out. "Yes, I'm not too happy about some things right now. We're here because I needed to get away from the city for a while."

Kage looked at her. "So, what's the problem?"

"It's quite simple, I want a family too."

Chie stopped walking and grimaced "I suppose seeing us didn't really help your mood."

"I'll get over it, sooner or later," Hotaru said.

"Yeah, I'm hoping that too."

Hotaru looked up to a nearby rooftop. "Chibi, thought you wanted to rest for a while."

"Yeah, but I knew I couldn't leave you alone for too long."

"Hmph. I'm okay."

ChibiUsa leapt off the roof, landing besides the others. "Sure you are."

"If you want something to take your mind off that topic," Kage said, "I know just the thing. We're trying to find clues on a band of rogue mages who make whole seaships 'vanish.'"

"We took care of them," Hotaru said, "they had their base in an uncharted island near Africa."

"Did they have any necromancers there?" Chie asked.

"No."

"Then you've only touched the tip of that iceberg. From what we heard, the true leaders are two necromancers who use the passengers for their rituals."

Hotaru growled. "That is..."

ChibiUsa shook her head. "It's one of the bad things about having the mana flow back as it was before the old Serenity capped the wells."

"And something that I can't allow to be left unchecked," Hotaru noted. "I am a necromancer, too."

"We should team up and look for them," Chie said with a big smile.

"No, you shouldn't get involved, it'll be dangerous."

"Hey, I'm a Senshi too."

"Yes," Hotaru said, "but you've got another life to worry about now. We Senshi are strong, but that baby could get killed before it's born."

"I hadn't thought about that," Chie said, color leaving her face.

"Guess we will have to leave it to you, then. If our sources are correct, then those necromancers are in this city."

"Good, I knew coming to Paris wouldn't be a waste of time," ChibiUsa noted.

* * *

"I was sure this had to happen sooner or later."

Serenity looked at Endymion and frowned. "But why... Why does mankind have to be so..."

"It's just the way things work," Endymion said. "Maybe we should send our army there?"

"They're not trained enough," Mako noted. She had been in charge of Crystal Tokyo's army since the city's birth, replacing her now retired uncle. But the army was mostly for shows, as they were expecting no wars inside their city. "And frankly, I don't think it would take more than a handful of Senshi to vaporize those..."

"We won't kill humans," Serenity noted.

"If you're worried that it will affect our minds, then..." Karin started.

"I'm not going to give in," Serenity warned. "Listen, we don't have to do a thing, this is quite a perfect way to show the world we're not going to move out of the way."

"So, we let them shoot?" Rei asked. "That's not good, even if the radiation wouldn't pass through our shield, it could still affect the rest of Japan."

"I'm well aware of that, Rei. But I thought you trusted me."

"Yes, I do, I just don't see how letting them shoot will be a good thing."

"That's because you don't know what my crystal can do," Serenity said with a smile.

"What kind of name's 'Black Hand' anyhow?" Karin mused. "Terrorist groups need to buy better names."

"I don't really think _we_ should be saying that," Rei noted.

* * *

Hisako smiled at her friend's stare. "See, I can finally do this."

Hikaru Aino was three years younger than the other girl, and had always seen her as an older sister. And, just like Hisako looked like a small Rei, Hikaru looked a lot like her mother when she was her age.

"You're Sailor Mars now? Cool."

"Younger Sailor Mars," Hisako corrected. "If you practice as much as I did, you will also be a Senshi in a few years."

Hikaru giggled. "That would be nice."

Minako had been looking at the two for a while. They were at the backyard of the Aino house (which, like most of the houses owned by the Senshi in Crystal Tokyo, was a bit too big to be called a house, but a bit too small to be called a mansion,) and she was curious as to what Hisako could do. "I want to see what you can do, Hisako."

"Right, aunt Mina." Younger Mars saw Minako vanish and reappear right besides her. She knew that wasn't teleportation, since Minako was the only one who could move at speeds that neared that of light. "Not going to transform?"

Minako smiled at that, summoning a melon-sized light ball in her right hand. "I don't need to do that, my power as a normal human is higher than that of a Guardian Senshi."

"I didn't know that," Younger Mars admitted. "Okay then, Flare Gun!"

Minako was surprised by the attack, but not injured at all. Rei herself, when at her first level of power, was able to channel a small quantity of mana into a fire beam. That was called the Fire Soul, and had looked quite impressive back then to her. But this girl... She was shooting many small bolts of fire, in a rapid flurry, and had she not been at the level she was, Minako would've been quite hurt by it. Moreso, she wasn't stopping. "Okay, that's enough."

Younger Mars stopped her attack, and looked at Minako. The woman wasn't affected by the attack at all, yet Hisako herself... She fell to her knees, panting. "Mom's right, I shouldn't overdo it."

"Yes, she's right," Minako said, "throwing out all your reserves in one barrage isn't a good idea, unless it's your only choice left."

A light beam hit Younger Mars from the side, and she turned to frown at Hikaru. "Hey!"

"Just wanted to see if I could knock you out."

Younger Mars chuckled. "I barely felt the hit."

"Wow..."

Minako smiled. "Hikaru, you're quite untrained yet to affect a Senshi with your 'attacks.' You'll have to wait for a few years before you can gather enough mana to actually harm Senshi with them."

"And by then, I may be a Twilight Senshi," Hisako noted.

Minako didn't argue with that. She could feel something about her, something she couldn't quite place, but she knew she would be surprised if Hisako didn't reach Twilight level by next year.

As for her own daughter... She had a slower start than the young Mars, but she was learning fast as well. Without real enemies to fight, though, she really didn't know how fast they could reach the higher levels.

* * *

With Hotaru around, finding necromancers wasn't too hard a task. They had located the base, hidden in the outskirts of Paris, in a cave that didn't look suspicious at all from the outside.

The two Senshi had an easy time sneaking in. Guards weren't outside the cave, which helped its harmless looks, but by the time they were detected, they were already at the core of their 'hive,' and most of the necromancers were scattered around the cave.

"This will be my only warning," Hotaru said, looking at the two necromancers. A man and a woman, both looked almost the same, and both had the same hair color. "You are going to pay for your crimes, that's a given. But the choice is yours, you can go to jail, or you can pay with your lives."

"And who might you be, little lost girls?" the woman said. True, these two girls had blasted through most of their ranks, but they had yet to see the true force of their army.

"Who might I be?" Hotaru mused. "I thought I was quite famous," she added as she transformed, "none other than the Senshi of Death, Sailor Saturn."

"And I don't need to help her against you two, but since you ask, I'm Princess Serenity."

The man laughed. "No matter who you are, you can't fight death itself!" As he said that, he rose his hands, and countless undead creatures started crawling out of the cave's ground.

"Death itself?" Saturn chuckled. "Poor, delusional, unexperienced fool." She looked at the undead crawling her way with detached interest. "I may not share your methods, I may not turn the recently deceased into mindless drones, but I can still affect such abominations."

The female necromancer took a step back as she realized all the undead had turned and were now crawling towards them. "No! This isn't possible!"

Saturn turned away as the impossibly large crowd of undead cornered their two 'masters.' "Let's go, we're done here."

ChibiUsa followed her out of the cave. "But what about all those undead?"

"They were created by those two, and will disappear with them," Saturn said, still visibly upset.

ChibiUsa understood what her friend was feeling right now. "You're not like them, Hotaru."

"I'm not? I used those monsters, too."

"But you don't create them yourself. Your wraiths aren't real souls, are they?"

Hotaru had already turned back to normal, and the two were out of the cave now. "No, of course not."

"Then you're not like them, Hotaru."

"It was too easy. Wish there was something worth fighting against."

ChibiUsa flinched. "Hotaru, I thought you had learnt from the past. Never say something like that."

* * *

It only took a week for the Black Hand to shoot their nuclear warheads straight to Crystal Tokyo. The world was sent into a frenzy, it had been several years since one of those weapons was airborne, and now there were a dozen of them.

Still, Crystal Tokyo had sent word to other countries, to make sure none would interfere in this matter. Serenity was standing on the palace's roof, looking at the sky, with many of the Senshi surrounding her. "Here it comes."

"Serenity, are you sure about this?"

"I've already told you to trust me," Serenity said, then looked up. Yes, she could see the missiles clearly now. She looked at them for one second, then smiled and turned to leave. "It's done."

"What, but those things are still..." Jupiter started.

"Don't worry," Serenity said. Just then, the nukes all hit the shield, but none exploded. They all fell to the ground outside the city, some of them bouncing once before stopping their flight harmlessly. "The threat is over."

"What did you do?" Mars asked.

"I simply took away their power," Serenity said, "Plain projectiles of metal and plastic aren't that threatening for our city, or any other city in the world."

As Serenity left, the others wondered if her crystal's powers had limits at all.

* * *

Next morning, ChibiUsa and Hotaru were walking through the streets of Madrid. The pink-haired woman suddenly stopped as they walked by a bar, her enhanced hearing picking something up. "Mom's on TV," she simply said before walking into the bar.

"... And the Queen of Crystal Tokyo declared, after the incident, that she wasn't going to let groups like the Black Hand threaten her or her people. She has proven, however, that an attack to Crystal Tokyo is simply out of any army's reach right now."

"That Queen's really something. Sitting in her cozy palace while the rest of the world rots away."

Hotaru looked at ChibiUsa, noticing she wasn't too happy with that comment. "Chibi..."

"I know, let's get out of here," ChibiUsa said, but as she walked out, she noticed something out of place. "No damn way."

Hotaru looked up too. It wasn't supposed to be dark at noon, so what... She realized what it was that blocked the sun. A massive spaceship. She remembered these things, and also recalled Kyma's words... There were three, as far as they knew, and the Senshi had, in different eras, destroyed two of them. "They apparently love getting blasted to pieces."

* * *

Serenity looked at the monitor which showed an outside view of the darkened Crystal Tokyo. "The Kh'sun, I never thought I would see them again."

"If they shoot their Terraformer at us, our shield could be blasted through," Mercury noted.

"There's no need to wait," Mako said.

"What do you mean?"

"Here's what I think. We sneak a couple Senshi into each one of those ships. We send them all out of orbit, then we have them explode up there."

"But I can't tell where the main one is," Ami said, "moreso, this time it's not just three cities being targeted. There's at least fifty of those around the globe."

"Wait, Mako's plan may be just what we need," Terry noted, "we can try getting the info on where their main ship is from one of the smaller ones."

"And then what?" Minako asked. "We can't possibly teleport all the way to wherever they are, can we?"

"You easily forget I'm still around," Pluto said as she appeared in the room. "I know their main ship is hiding somewhere near Neptune, but I cannot pinpoint its location. However, once that piece of information is known, I can teleport as many Senshi as we need inside their main ship."

"If we destroy the mothership," Endymion noted, "the smaller ones should surrender. Moreso, if they're like the ones we fought before, most of the Kh'sun are in that mothership."

"If the smaller ships don't surrender, then we'll have to blast them out anyway," Naru noted, "but it's still worth a try."

* * *

Of course, the aliens hadn't begun their attack with their strongest weapons. Instead, they were sending out scout ships, along with some bigger ones. The Senshi saw that and knew this would be a long fight even if their powers had improved exponentially since last time they fought these aliens.

The skies of Crystal Tokyo soon filled with explosions, but Serenity was worried. If the situation was the same everywhere, then there would be countless losses for both sides. The pilots of those ships weren't the true evil, after all, but how could they find the true enemy?

"I'm going in now," Mercury said.

"I can't let you do that, Ami. If something happened to you, then..."

Mercury looked at Serenity for a few seconds, then realized the other woman wasn't going to let the matter drop. "Nothing is going to happen to me."

"But you have to think about your baby."

Mercury shook her head. "I'm the only one who can interact with their computers, Usagi. This is no time to be thinking about this when the world's sake..."

"Ami, can you really be so cold?"

"Cold?" Mercury laughed humorlessly. "Damn it, Usagi, I thought you knew me by now."

Serenity realized something... This wasn't the usual Mercury, the strategic thinker, she had only seen Mercury act like this when she was really worried about what could happen. "I... Understand, but I can't allow you to go there."

"You can't stop me from going, either."

"I know."

And then Mercury knew what her friend meant, just as Serenity turned around. "Serenity..."

"I can order you to stay here, Sailor Mercury, but the final decision to obey is still yours," Serenity said without turning to look at her.

Mercury looked down, then smiled. "Yes, you're quite right," she said before vanishing.

Serenity looked up to the sky and smiled. "I just hope we both made the right decision, Ami."

* * *

Jupiter tossed one of the bigger ships into two others that were rushing at her. It was much easier now, they could fly without their airboards, and their enemies weren't strong. She had been hit by at least a dozen of those ships, but still had to feel any damage.

She looked to the left and saw a group of five ships heading straight for her. She smiled and clasped both hands together. "Time to stop playing nice." She recited the words in her mind, and the attack was unleashed. Jupiter Thunderstorm Barrage.

A dozen lightning bolts shot out of Jupiter's hands, each striking through several of the ships before fading. She smiled then noticed something and looked up in shock. "Is the ship... Freezing?"

Mars floated to her. "Yes, Mercury's in there."

Jupiter blinked at her, then looked up again, noticing the small bluish spots that were appearing under the ship were tracing a route to its center. "So we'll be done here soon."

"I hope so," Mars said. "I'm not a fan of dogfights."

* * *

Mercury had gotten a warm welcome as soon as she had appeared into the ship. She had a hard time dodging the blasts that came from all directions at first, and that's why she had chosen to deep-freeze any group of soldiers that came to stop her. As a Senshi, the weapons these aliens used were nothing but minor nuissances, but she knew Serenity had been right, at least partially. She wasn't going to let anything hit her.

She kept pressing on, her path clear to her, as she could 'hear' the ship's main computer. However, her initial plan was to manipulate it from a distance, but she found she couldn't do that now. It was 'speaking' to her in an unknown language, and she could only listen from afar, not 'talk' back to it. So, she had to try the old, manual approach, even if that meant blasting into the bridge.

But as she reached the bridge, she saw something was guarding its entrance. A group of green-hued, strange androids, at least four meters tall, and they had only one green 'eye' on top of their triangle-shaped head. "I see, just like those robots the other Kh'sun had..." She, however, wasn't worried at all about these. Androids were computers. And computers were her speciality.

Instead of attacking her, the androids all turned around, blasting a hole into the wall. Mercury saw a group of _very_ astonished aliens inside, and they were all looking at the androids.

_"What are the D'ned doing?"_

_"I don't know, sir, they're not responding to our commands anymore."_

Mercury smiled. It only took her a few seconds to mimic their language, a skill she hadn't really used as much as she would have liked to in the past. _"This ship is now under my control, as are your robotic guards. Anyone moves a muscle, and I'm going to freeze this whole room solid."_

The aliens all froze, partially surprised that the woman could speak their language, and partially worried that she would actually do as she had said. Well, most of them did, but one of the creatures in the far side of the room reached for (his? her?) weapon. But it never got to use it.

"Endless Winter." Mercury looked around and nodded. These creatures weren't dead, but they wouldn't be bothering her anymore. She looked at the computer, while having the robots stand guard around her. "Now let's see where the real enemy's hiding."

* * *

Serenity was still looking up, but if what could be seen from the outside was any sign of how things were going, then she had worried in vain. The center of the ship was now a bright cyan color, she could sense the magic of that attack from where she stood. And as she stared up, she noticed someone had appeared behind her. "Welcome back."

"You look happy, Serenity."

Serenity smiled. "Yes, I'm glad you're okay."

Mercury nodded. "It's done. I know exactly where their main ship is."

Serenity noticed something and looked up. "It's leaving."

Mercury frowned. "The main ship is calling the others back. We need to act quick."

"We... There's no we in this," Serenity said.

"What do you mean?"

Serenity looked up again, and mentally called all the Senshi to their meeting room, or War Room as the Princess had nicknamed it. "Come with me and you will find out."

* * *

"They're leaving, huh?" Hotaru said as she looked up, amused by the aliens' sudden escape. How could a ship that big move so fast, anyway?

"You look better now."

"I've told you I've done a lot of thinking, and... I realize I shouldn't be upset about what I don't have, about what I can't possibly have. Instead, I will focus in what I have right now. I've walked a long road from the Hotaru I was at the beginning to now, and... If I start hating everyone for having what I don't, I know I will go back to being like that, sooner or later."

"I'll never let you go back," ChibiUsa said with a smile. "But I wonder... _When_ exactly did you start liking me?"

"Now that's one subject I've given a lot of thought to," Hotaru said. "I guess it was... When I kept you alive during the fight against that Messiah creature. Somehow, the link was forged then."

"But you didn't tell me back then..."

"I couldn't, not until you saw it in my own dreams. I feared I would alienate Usagi... Or you."

ChibiUsa sighed. "Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what to think about it, at first."

"But I don't really care about that, I just want to be with you from now on."

"Serenity called all Senshi back. You think the others went there?"

"I don't know," Hotaru said. "Should we go check what she's up to?"

"Are you really sure you can return there already?"

"As long as you're by my side, I don't care where we are."

ChibiUsa blushed. "That's so... Corny."

"But it made you blush," Hotaru said with a giggle.

ChibiUsa smiled as the two looked at the sky again. It was good to finally see her in a good mood again.

* * *

"You can't do that, Serenity."

"And who is going to stop me?" Serenity asked.

"It's dangerous," ChibiUsa said, "I agree with Rei, going there on your own..."

Ami frowned. "I can see your point, Serenity. You're going to destroy them from the inside."

Serenity looked hurt. "Ami, you should know better than that. I'm not so heartless as to kill off a whole race, even if their crime is unforgivable."

"Then what are you going to..." ChibiUsa stopped. She knew the answer. "You're going to do what Terry did back then..."

"Good guess," Serenity said. "So, Setsuna, shall we leave?"

"I still think it's dangerous," Rei noted, "I can't allow you to expose yourself like that."

Ami smiled. "You can order her to stay here, but the final decision to obey is still hers."

Serenity nodded. "You're right."

"Let's go," Pluto said, and the two vanished.

* * *

Serenity looked to both sides of the corridor. "I see... This brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Pluto said. "But they should be here already."

"That is, because they still don't know we're here, and they will never know."

Pluto was, once more, surprised by the power Serenity had. She still remembered the time when Galaxia was around, and how powerless she had felt back then when facing her. All things considered, if she didn't know what kind of person Serenity was, then she would feel even more powerless than ever. "Are you ready?"

Serenity nodded. "The Kh'sun are a plague, but even then, I can't kill them. However, where I'm sending them to... I won't be able to save them, either."

Pluto blinked to adjust her sight. One moment they were inside the ship, the next, they were in space. But they hadn't moved at all, no, the ship had vanished. "Serenity..."

"Let's go back home, Setsuna."

"... Of course," Pluto said, and the two vanished.

* * *

**A/N: **The Kh'Sun finally _sunk_. And yes, I know my puns are bad.


	3. The calm before the storm

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 3: The calm before the storm.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: November 17, 2008_

* * *

"Are you sure your machines are safe?"

Ami scanned the room with her eyes briefly. Umino and Shingo usually handled reporters, but for this one, the two top scientists of Crystal Tokyo were the only ones who could answer their questions. "I am quite aware of the general skepticism of mankind when it comes to magic, and it's quite understandable. However, I've spent the last few years working in this project, and I can assure you that it will deal with worldwide pollution."

"What's the catch?"

That started a round of murmurs, which Ami silenced with her answer. "Why should there be any? We need this world to live as much as everyone else does. If pollution levels keep on rising, then my numbers indicate that the planet will be unable to sustain life in a couple centuries, and that's in the best case scenario."

"Moreso," Terry added, "we can stop the degradation of our atmosphere now, but we're not sure it will be possible in a few decades."

"But you haven't spoken of costs yet. How much will those machines..."

"Nothing at all," Ami said. That caused another round of exclamations and murmurs from the reporters. "I shouldn't have to remember you this, but we, as Senshi, are responsible for the survival of mankind. We're not doing this for money."

"We have enough of that already," Terry noted, causing a round of laughter, "but joking aside, these machines will be orbiting our world in one month from now. We're not asking for permission from the other nations of our planet. The Earth must be saved from this threat, and we are not taking any complaints on that respect."

Ami stood up as the reporters all started murmuring again. "That is all, gentlemen. Any further questions may be done to our P.R. office."

* * *

Uranus looked at the girl facing her and smiled. "Are you really serious about this?"

"I know your friend is on her way here, but I've got enough time to deal with you first. I will show you that our group is stronger than yours!"

Uranus had to keep herself from laughing out loud. Truly, these Lesser Senshi were quite delusional. It was a pity many of them decided to play Evil Senshi, like this girl's group of merry idiots. The Zodiac Senshi, they called themselves, bullying people into giving them money for 'protection.' Which simply meant if people didn't pay, then their houses could mysteriously burst aflame or be washed away by a water wave.

"I'll humor you, Sailor Pisces."

Pisces laughed. "We're standing meters above an underground river, Uranus. Hope you don't mind me using it. Updraft River!"

Uranus was knocked up by a strong water current, and fell on her back meters away. As she stood up, she noticed Pisces smiling. "You're strong, kid..."

"I know. Waterfall!"

Uranus let the water hit her, but this time she stood up while the water was falling. Seeing Pisces' surprised face, she smirked. "I've been with the Senshi of the Ocean for many years. You think a bit of water will hurt me? Think twice."

"But your power, it's at the same level as mine!"

"I just didn't want to scare the fish, pun intended." Uranus said and mentally released her full power. "You can sense magic, I assume?"

Pisces nodded, staring at Uranus in shock. "That much power, it's simply..."

"See, there's three differences between groups like yours and mine. Between you and me. Want to know what they are?"

Pisces nodded again. She was shaking, and she knew it, she had never seen a being of so much power from so close. The magic this woman had gathered was incredibly high, and she could've blasted her down with it in a second if she wanted to. She still could, the frightened girl realized.

"Okay, the first difference is," Uranus said, "that we're not fake Senshi, we don't bully others into giving us money. The second is, that we've been around for a long time. I transformed into a Senshi before I had my first period. At your age, an attack like that one you're using would've looked weak to me."

Pisces could barely stand by now. "And the... Third difference?"

"Easy, we never give up. I know what you're feeling, girl, so I can sympathise. I fought a woman called Sailor Galaxia, and the power difference between us was greater than this. But I never backed away from that fight."

"I... See. Did you win?"

"Our leader defeated Galaxia in the end, but only after we had all been killed by her."

"So the rumors are true, you girls have already died in the past?"

Uranus nodded, then looked right into the girl's eyes. "What is it that you seek, girl? Why try to fight us?" She lowered her power as she said that, because she knew her 'enemy' wasn't going to resist much more of it.

"To prove myself that I could defeat one of you. At least that's what I wanted to do, but now I see..."

Uranus frowned. "If you give up so easily, then you're not a true Senshi. However, you need guts to come and fight one of us, I'll give you that much."

"Damn, Haruka, you already beat her?"

Uranus turned to see Neptune walking to them. "I didn't even have to attack."

"Sailor Neptune..." Pisces looked at her in awe. "You control water too... Tell me, why can't I defeat her?"

"Because you are not fighting for the right reason," Neptune noted. "Senshi aren't Senshi to be popular or to be the strongest, or for money. Until you understand what being a Senshi is about, then you will never be like us."

Pisces looked down as the two Senshi walked away. Of course, she understood now... She wasn't a Senshi. She was just a girl who could control water, and had been using that power for her own benefit.

"But I will be a real Senshi, someday."

* * *

"Taka, say hi to your sister."

"Hi... Aiko."

Aiko looked at the little boy. He was smiling at her, but for some reason, she felt like the kid was glaring at her behind that smile. "So, how's school going?"

"Boring," Takamaru said. He had Ami's hair color, but his eyes were black, like his father's. "I don't need school. I can learn all that stuff from a computer."

"But you won't make any friends if you just study," Ami said.

"I know, mom." All the better that way, he thought.

Aiko flinched. This kid, he was too smart for his own good, apparently.

* * *

"Light Fan!"

Younger Mars leapt over the white energy wave and smiled. "Gotcha. Heat Stab."

Younger Venus barely dodged the flame sword her opponent had summoned, and smiled back. "No, I got you. Light Fan."

As Younger Mars fell to the ground, Rei smiled. "Guess she beat you this time."

"You're improving," Minako agreed.

"Are you okay?"

Mars looked at Venus and nodded. "Your attack doesn't hit me that hard, actually."

Rei smiled. Hisako was at Star level now, while Hikaru was a 'Planet' Senshi, as Ami had nicknamed their first, weakest form. They had both been training for a while, both against the other Senshi and sometimes, just like now, against each other.

Hisako was seventeen, and Rei knew that meant she had progressed a bit faster than their generation did. And she didn't doubt Hikaru would get to Star level at that age, too.

She considered the last few years as a blessing. After the Kh'sun's attempt at an invasion, and the display of power Serenity gave, the other nations of Earth had not complained about Crystal Tokyo's existence. They were either awed by the power the Senshi had, or frightened by it. It worked for them either way, really. So, they were once again enjoying their peace while it lasted.

Some of her friends had, however, not been okay with said peace. Haruka and Michiru had never been all that close to the rest, maybe due to their rough start, so they were still roaming around the world. ChibiUsa and Hotaru were staying in the city for a while, but Rei could bet they would be heading out soon. The pink-haired girl was a warrior at heart, after all, and there were no enemies for her to fight inside Crystal Tokyo.

She wondered about Tsuki and Takamaru. Chie and Kage's daughter, Tsuki, wasn't showing any signs of magic powers yet, while Takamaru, Ami and Terry's son, was able to see others' souls even though he was only three.

Rei herself knew she was already missing those years. She loved her daughter, that was obvious, but maybe she could talk Yuu into expanding the family.

"Hello? Earth to Rei?"

Rei grimaced. Apparently, Minako had been talking to her. "Sorry, I was distracted."

"I could see that. I said that, maybe, we could ask the youma to send a few of their soldiers here."

"I don't think Apatite would agree to that," Rei noted, "after all, youma have quite a bad track record fighting Senshi.

The Senshi were still in good terms with youma. It wasn't even because of that old deal they made with them anymore. With the Earth flooding with mana, youma didn't need to steal it off humans anymore. But youma had realized it was simply impossible to win a war against Crystal Tokyo. No, it was more than that, she was sure they had abandoned that idea years ago.

"I think that as soon as I graduate from school, I'm going to go look for enemies."

Rei smiled. "I'll miss you, you know? And your dad will miss you, too."

"I know that, but... This city is quite boring."

Rei rose an eyebrow at that. Well, she couldn't say the girl was wrong, days inside the city were peaceful, and thanks to her security forces, Mako's army and Ami and Aiko's security network, crime was amazingly close to zero. "Just remember to come say hi once in a while, okay?"

"You're telling me that like I'm going to leave right now. There's still a few years to go."

"Yeah, I know," Rei said. But she had realized something a couple years earlier, and that was that days, weeks, months, even years, passed by quite fast when you know you have an eternity to live.

* * *

"What are you saying, Pisces?"

"That we're hated by everyone in this city, Scorpio. We're not like the Senshi, we're weak, and I think it's because we don't have a worthy goal."

"Hmph, being rich isn't a worthy goal for you anymore, Pisces?"

"Not if will bring our deaths."

The third of the group, Taurus, sighed. "You've become a coward ever since you fought Uranus."

"You know nothing," Pisces snapped. "You don't know just how strong they..."

"What is that?" Scorpio said, her fear quite obvious as she tried to locate the source of her friend's silence.

"You two should listen to your friend."

"Uranus..." Pisces sank on her chair. Had they followed them? No, the Senshi were rumored to be able to sense magic users. But what were they here for?"

Taurus had her eyes fixed on the two Senshi who had just walked into their hideout. She was the only one of the three that couldn't sense magic, but she could _see_ the auras surrounding them, and it was just as effective for her. "They're too damn strong."

"This is your last warning," Uranus noted, "leave your current path or we will have to eliminate you for the sake of the people of this city."

Scorpio found it hard to even breathe, but managed to speak. "I... We... We will change our ways, we promise."

"Doing it out of fear?" Neptune mused. "Don't bother if that's the case. We've been all around the world, and we know there's evil out there, everywhere, but we can't be everywhere. If you want to change, don't do it because we threaten you. Do it because you have the potential to protect this city, even this country."

"... You really think so?" Taurus asked.

Neptune nodded. "Yes. In fact, we are going to stay in this country for a while. Maybe we could help you train."

"Even if we are... Were... Evil?" Pisces asked.

"You were just bullying people," Uranus said, "we can't say we haven't done that ourselves, but... When it comes down to it, what it matters is that you don't do what you do for yourselves, but for others."

"Then, as the leader of this small group, I accept your offer," Scorpio said. "Help us become strong."

Neptune smiled. "Stronger, actually. You are strong."

Pisces gasped. "Really?"

Uranus snorted. "We defeated evil queens and alien overlords with less power than you have."

Neptune nodded. "So now, start off by showing us what you can do."

* * *

"You've offered us that before. The answer is still no."

Serenity looked at the two, sadness creeping into her face. "But I..."

"We are happy for you. We know you accept your destiny and you have no regrets about it, but... We can't follow your path."

Serenity turned to leave. "I was hoping you would reconsider my offer."

Kenji looked at his daughter. He could still see his teenage daughter there, in fact she didn't look much older than he remembered. "You have to understand," he said, "we're not like... You and your friends. We're..."

"Human?" Serenity asked, her gown suddenly changing into a more normal attire as she turned to look at them. "I'm human too."

"But we," Ikuko said, "we have always known we wouldn't live forever. We are ready to accept what's to come." She looked at the woman in front of her. She knew why she had done it, a simple thing like a change in her attire. The one standing in front of them was not Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, but their daughter, Usagi. "We will never be ready to face living as long as you will."

"I... See." Usagi smiled. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry, for what?" Kenji asked.

"For being so selfish. I suppose I wasn't thinking about you two when I offered you this choice. I was thinking about how hard it will be, when you two..."

Ikuko smiled. "But you will get through that. Nothing can defeat you."

"I'm not so sure anymore," Usagi said. "Please, mom, dad, just... Think about what I told you."

Ikuko saw Usagi vanish and sighed. "We will."

* * *

The Princess wasn't quite ready for what she found, later that day, when she went to speak to her mother. It had been a very long time since she had seen Serenity out of her gown and in civilian clothing. And it had been quite longer since she had seen her like this, crying her eyes out. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Usagi stopped sobbing and looked at her daughter for a few seconds before speaking. "I went to talk to them again. but they still told me the same as before."

"I don't get it."

"Your grandparents," Usagi said, standing up, "they don't... They refused my offer."

ChibiUsa looked down. "Now I get it. That's why your future self never talked about them..."

"..." Usagi paled. "So, they weren't around..."

"Sorry, but no." ChibiUsa grimaced as her mother fell back on her bed. "I wish I could tell you they will take upon your offer, but if destiny stays as it should..."

"As it should? Screw destiny. I don't want my parents to die!" She noticed the look ChibiUsa was giving her, and winced. "Sorry, I didn't..."

"You can make them immortal without their consent, even though I know you won't do it that way, it would go against your nature. But still, you should be glad _you_ have a choice as to whether your parents live or not."

As ChibiUsa started walking away, Usagi sighed and phased in front of her. "I just keep on being selfish, I guess. But ChibiUsa, I don't want you to be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, but I agree with what you said. Screw destiny."

Usagi sighed as her daughter walked past her. "How's Hotaru?"

ChibiUsa stopped again. "She's fine. She doesn't bring up that subject any longer."

"But she still thinks about it, doesn't she?"

"I know she does. I do, too, sometimes. But we both know we can't focus in what we can't have, we can't let that rule our lives."

Usagi smiled at that. "Yes, you're quite right. Tell her to come visit us someday."

"Will do," ChibiUsa said, then she walked out of the room.

* * *

"I'll show you a new trick today."

Younger Venus looked at her friend. Younger Mars, now Cosmic level. Her talisman had been a surprise, they were just earrings. However, the boost in power they gave her was something the junior Light Senshi knew all too well. She was still in Star level herself, but hoping to get to the next level soon.

"Go ahead, old lady, let's see what you can do."

Hikaru knew that nickname pissed her friend off, but also knew Hisako had learnt to control her temper well. She didn't move, waiting for whatever her friend was planning.

"Burning Chain Fury."

Younger Venus barely managed to avoid the attack. Or, she realized, she dodged the first swipe, but then yelped in pain as the second swipe hit. Several fiery chains had appeared on Younger Mars' fingers, lashing out at her randomly, and she had fallen for the trick. She was now wrapped up in one of the chains, and could feel the heat on her skin. "Ow ow ow... I give up!"

"That was shorter than I thought," Mars noted.

Venus smiled. Luckily, there were no witnesses to her defeat today. In fact, their mothers had stopped watching over them when they trained since last year. Hisako was twenty, and knew enough not to let her temper flare and harm her friend badly, and Hikaru, well, she couldn't quite hurt her even if she tried.

"Why did you stay, though?"

Mars smiled. "In the city, you mean? I want to help the younger Senshi train. There's others taking care of evil out there, and I just know a couple low-level Senshi running around would probably end up having to be rescued."

Venus nodded. "Yeah... Some of those Lesser Senshi idiots are starting to be dangerous nowadays."

"So I'll have to train the lucky girl and the ice brat too. And in the meantime, I want to be strong enough to reach Eternal level."

Venus looked at her friend, an image of her in an Eternal Senshi suit appearing in her mind. She blushed and looked away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all," Hikaru lied. No, she couldn't tell her, not yet. Not until she was sure of it. "Let's just keep training."

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I am, and I'm not going to let you use your bondage trick on me again."

Mars winced. "Hey, that's not..."

"Just shut up and get ready to fight, old lady."

"Oh, you asked for it now," Mars said with a smile.

* * *

Warwitch stood on top of one of Crystal Tokyo's tallest buildings. The Crystal Palace itself loomed over her to the north, and she smiled. She had gotten used to the change in scenery by now, and though she didn't have any evil to fight anymore, she still trained her magic. She could never hope to compare to the kind of power her friends had, but that didn't mean she was going to be happy to be a weakling.

The formerly called 'sidekicks' of the Senshi had been keeping a low profile for years, living as normal citizens of Crystal Tokyo. Not that any of them was normal. A witch, a psychic, two aliens who could throw energy blasts the size of a building at will, and a shapeshifter who could mimic any of the others' powers.

"You look upset."

Warwitch didn't turn, she didn't need to. The power of this woman was impossible to miss. "Serenity."

"Call me Usagi, if you don't mind."

"Right. I've been wondering, about the future. Should I stay in here, or should I go out like others did?"

"I can't answer that, only you can," Serenity said, "but remember, you're welcome to the palace whenever you want."

"I know that," Warwitch said, returning to her civilian clothes. "I bet you know what my real problem is, Usagi."

"I'm still the same," Serenity said, "I may not be a genius, but when it comes to that, I can't be fooled. I know what the problem is, Yuki. You're lonely."

"I'm sorry, but I did fool you, when we were young."

Serenity smiled. "You never did."

Yuki blinked a few times before finding her voice. "You knew what I felt for you?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry I couldn't..."

"It's okay," Yuki said. "I was a few years too late, after all."

"As I said, you should decide for yourself, but I can tell you that staying here may be the best choice for you."

"You know something I don't, right?"

Serenity smiled again. "And that will stay that way for now."

* * *

Taurus ducked just as a black beam hissed by. Necromancers, how annoying they could be. "Bull Rush!"

Neptune saw Taurus rushing at the enemy, releasing a strong wave of electricity as she made contact. "Brings back memories, huh?"

Uranus nodded, then looked at the other two. Pisces had just knocked one of the necromancers out with a wave of water, while Scorpio had burnt the other one alive. "I think they're quite good at what they do."

"Yes, I knew they could be stronger." She was surprised, though, that mere humans like them had managed to reach a power as high as that of a Star Senshi.

"Ice Volley!" The last of the necromancers was pierced through by a rain of ice arrows. Pisces looked around, seeing all the undead had vanished. "We did it!"

"Well done," Uranus said. "You girls are ready to handle enemies on your own."

"Thanks for the help," Scorpio said. "So, are you leaving?"

"Yes, we have to keep an eye on evil everywhere, not only in this country."

"Then you can leave this country in our hands," Pisces said. "But before you go..."

Neptune sighed. "You're insane."

"Fight us again," Pisces insisted.

Uranus shrugged. "Since they're a bit stronger than Star Senshi, let's limit ourselves to Cosmic attacks."

"Sounds good," Neptune said.

"Oh come on..." Taurus said, "you don't have to hold back."

Neptune smirked at that. "Actually, we have to. If I really went all out, I could cover the whole city with water, or even create a water bubble with enough pressure to crush you three in seconds."

"Uhm, I think we'll pass," Scorpio said nervously.

"Okay then, let's make this battle worth our time," Uranus said and rushed at the three Zodiac Senshi.

* * *

Aiko walked into the meeting room to find it almost empty. Only Serenity was there, smiling warmly at her. She had given up trying to measure this woman's magic power years ago, but it was still quite hard not to be intimidated by her.

"Aiko, may I ask you about the project?"

"Of course. Pollution is slowly being reduced everywhere, and the satellites are working as they should. I estimate the Earth should be clean in two decades at most."

"Faster if Ami's other project is finished."

Aiko nodded. "But I suppose you could have asked that to mom or dad, so... What is it that you really wanted of me?"

"You're as smart as ever, Aiko," Serenity said. "I was wondering about something I heard from Ami, years ago. _Many_ years ago, actually."

Aiko couldn't really tell what the Queen was talking about, but knew the Queen wasn't someone who would ask something out of the blue like that. "Go ahead."

"She told me you had... You had a crush on someone from our group of friends. But you never told her who it was, am I right?"

"She never insisted on that matter."

"You're a hard one to read," Serenity mused.

"What?"

"I mean, with the others, I can know when something like that's going on through their heads, but you... I guess I can't do the same with someone of your kind."

"If that's all you wanted to know..."

"Before you leave, I'm going to ask you just one more thing... The one you liked back then, do you still like her?"

"I don't need to answer that," Aiko said.

"I'm just trying to help you both," Serenity noted.

Aiko frowned. "I know you are, but you shouldn't keep your hopes too high for me. Who can really like something like me? You said it yourself, I'm not human."

"You are, you're just built different," Serenity noted. "And I don't think she will mind that."

"Thanks for your concern," Aiko said, "but I'll have to give this some thought."

"Let me know if you need help with anything," Serenity said.

"Will do," Aiko said before vanishing from the room.

"You're quite sharp when it comes to those matters, Usagi."

Serenity turned around to see Luna sitting on top of the table. "So I am. I had to be sharp at _something_."

Luna chuckled. "What's that, are you mimicking Rei now?"

"She got the respect bug everyone else caught since I turned into... This," Serenity said, "it's quite a chore to remind everyone to call me Usagi in private."

"Can't be helped," Luna noted, "though I doubt any of them doesn't still see you as the old Usagi."

"I still am..." Serenity started, then frowned and looked to the side.

"What?"

"Nothing, for a second I thought I felt something evil inside the city."

"Hmph, that would be pretty much impossible with the magic shield up."

Serenity nodded at that, but she was still worried. It had only been for a split second, but she had felt a very strong entity inside Crystal Tokyo. Whatever it was, it was gone now, or hiding from her powers.

"Usagi?" Luna asked.

"I will have to keep my guard up for that... Whatever it was."

"It may be your mind trying to find something to fight," Luna started, then before Serenity interrupted her, she added, "but I've learnt from the past, I will start searching for any hints of evil in our city."

* * *

"What's wrong, Taka?"

"Ugh, don't call me that."

Tsuki giggled. "You're cute when you're angry, you know?"

"Tsuki, you're annoying." Takamaru sighed. Why did this brat insist on following him around, anyway? He never cared about her. He never cared about anyone, really, and he had realized that years ago.

He was different. He hated crowds. He hated people. He hated all those old women his mother called friends, a bunch of old hags who felt so secure in their crystal tower, even that self-claimed Queen she so idolized. But despite how much hatred he felt, he had to play along, he had to keep the charade for a while longer.

He knew the two older of the 'Younger Senshi' had stopped at Guardian level. There was no need to go past that, they said. He pitied them, how could they be okay with being so weak? He wouldn't stop at that level, no. He was different. He was one of a kind, and thus, he knew he could be stronger than any of them.

Yes, that was him, Takamaru, the son of Sailor Mercury and Dragon Mercury. But thanks to luck, fate, or whatever force was behind his destiny, he had also inherited his father's secondary power. He could control both ice and death magic, and he didn't get tired fast with them, unlike his father was in his teen years. No, he was better than him. He would train, he would get up to their level, and then he would show them what power really looked like.

That, he had realized a while back, was his destiny.

* * *

**A/N:** If you're wondering, the name of Chie's daughter means luck, not moon (different kanji, different meaning.) As for Ami's rebellious boy, his name comes from Takai (death) while -maru is a common suffix for male names.

As for the Zodiac Senshi, they will be around for the next episode, and possibly after that, too. And those who are missing some drama may like episode four. The whole act won't take much longer, though, because the true focus of this 'book' will be in the Nemesian wars and what happens afterwards.

_LordHalo:_ You'd be surprised if you knew how cheap those things can be in the black market. ;)

* * *


	4. The evil within

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 4: The evil within.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: November 24, 2008_

* * *

"I think Serenity is right."

"I'm still not so sure about..."

Ami looked at her daughter and frowned. She had listened to her story, and almost immediately guessed who Aiko's crush was. She was a bit surprised at knowing Aiko was attracted to girls, though, and she couldn't blame her father's genes on this one. "Listen, just sitting there and doing nothing about it won't solve anything."

Aiko looked down. "I know, but what if..."

"Stop worrying about that. The only way you have to know for sure is to go for it."

Takamaru was listening to everything from his room. It was useless for them to speak in a low voice, anyhow, since his senses were way sharper than those of a normal human, and could hear whispers from one block away, even at his young age. That was how he knew many of his classmates considered him a freak. They whispered amongst themselves, thinking he couldn't hear them. But he wasn't letting that bother him. Let them call him a freak today, because in a few years they would be bowing to his power.

For a minute, he pondered if he should spend more time with his sister, to try and win her trust, but then shrugged that thought off. That thing wasn't even human, how could his parents call 'it' their daughter? He didn't really need anyone else, human or not.

* * *

"I am, once again, extremely bored."

Hotaru looked up from the newspaper she was reading and smiled. "Time for another world tour?"

"Maybe, but we've found nothing challenging out there, either."

"Hmm, Haruka and Michiru are doing it again."

"What are they up to?"

Hotaru looked at the front page. Of course, news about Senshi, either inside or outside Crystal Tokyo, were always there. "I had heard the rumors, they apparently trained a group of Senshi in South America, the so-called Zodiac Senshi, but then they moved north. And right now, they're often seen with a group of Lesser Senshi in the United States."

"You know, their idea is good," ChibiUsa admitted. "We can't be everywhere."

"Yeah, but those... Those pseudo-Senshi aren't immortal."

"If they use mana right, they will get extended lifespans," ChibiUsa noted, "nothing close to us, but they could get up to a couple hundred years."

"I didn't know that."

ChibiUsa looked at the article again, then smiled. "Now that's interesting."

"What is?"

ChibiUsa pointed at a smaller article on the front page of the newspaper. "Ares 23, second shuttle to land on Mars with a crew. It's going there next month."

"Hmph, what's so interesting about..."

"What they're doing is quite pointless. Or, at least, they're going at it the wrong way."

"I don't follow."

"And you're the daughter of a scientist?" ChibiUsa teased. "See, their whole terraforming project. They don't need to use their costy artifacts for it."

"You think the artifacts that were in Mars during Silver Millenium... "

"Unless they were somehow destroyed," ChibiUsa said, "they should still be there, dormant and waiting to be awakened when the mana flow of their worlds is restored."

"Can't we just jump there and see for ourselves?"

"I asked Pluto about that already. We could get there, but with the capped mana in Mars, we wouldn't be able to 'aim' our landing. We could end up appearing inside a mountain or something worse."

"Not a nice way to die," Hotaru admitted. "So, are you planning on going there using the 'slug express'?"

"I'll have to talk to my mother about this, but I'm sure trying to uncap those wells will be interesting."

"Count me in."

"Hmph. I would try and tell you that it's dangerous and that you shouldn't tag along, but I know I can't leave you alone for two seconds."

"Ditto," Hotaru said with a smile.

* * *

She wasn't really paying attention to the street, since she had no destination in mind. The city of Crystal Tokyo was quite large, and it was quite easy to just walk around like this, enjoying the day. However, she had other things in her mind right now. Fate was a strange thing, she would've never imagined the one she liked could also be interested.

And she knew her mother was right, she was worrying too much. Despite her origins, she was as human as she could ever hope to be. In fact, unless told otherwise, most people would never guess she wasn't human. Most citizens knew about her, who and what she was, but that didn't worry her. She had gotten some strange looks while walking around the city at first, but over time, the fascination with her (as well as all the other members of Crystal Tokyo's royalty,) had dulled down into quiet respect.

But even thought she hadn't thought about a target for her walk, her feet apparently had a mind of their own, or maybe her stomach, as she had ended up in Kino's Bar. And she once again thought fate was a strange thing. She had not hoped to find _her_ while walking around, in fact she had hoped to _not_ find her. But Yuki was apparently a fan of Mako's cooking as well.

"Good morning, Aiko."

"Good morning." Aiko looked at the woman. She was looking at her as if she was trying to guess her thoughts. "Something wrong?"

"I've never been able to sense your presence, that's all. And I'll never figure out why."

"Maybe it's because I'm not..."

"Human," the other woman said, turning to the food she had been eating before the computer girl appeared. "My definition of _human_ is quite broad, in fact. I think even Usagi herself wouldn't be considered _human_ by the standard definition."

"That's true," Aiko admitted.

"Care for something to eat?" The woman said, then frowned. "Heh, never thought about this. Do you eat at all?"

"I don't really _need_ to," Aiko said, "but I like to eat anyhow... And I've found ways to process the food into mana."

"Heh, I guess that's what we mages do."

"Yukiko, listen, I..."

"Haven't heard anyone using my full name for many years," Yuki said with a smile as Aiko sat down across the table. She then looked down at the salad in front of her. "I don't know how Mako does it, but I've never eaten anything better than what she cooks."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Yuki looked up at Makoto, who was standing near them. "How do you manage to be here, what with your position as the city's Commander?" True, Mako's main and older restaurant was usually not as empty as it was now. It was also the third time she had seen Mako around this month, and while she had to admit the other cooks weren't bad, she liked Mako's own dishes better.

"You kidding me?" Mako laughed. "Our army isn't really needed inside the city, and I leave Seia the task of sending troops to other countries when they're needed."

"How's Rakurai doing?" Aiko asked, curiosity picking up at the mention of that name.

"Oh, she's one cranky old woman," Mako said, "always trying to get me to stop 'wasting time' here. Anyways, what are you going to order?"

Aiko smiled. "Surprise me."

"Yeah, I should've guessed," Mako said, "I'll be back in a few minutes, you two don't have too much fun out here."

Aiko frowned at that, then looked at Yuki as Mako walked into the restaurant. "I didn't think I would find you so easily, but the truth is, I have something to tell you."

Yuki looked at her and gave her a small smile. "You don't need to say a thing."

"Wha... Did Serenity tell you?"

"No. But she had me intrigued, and I figured you were the only girl around that..."

"There's also Kyma," Aiko noted.

"Bah, I'm not into catgirls," Yuki noted, causing the other woman to laugh. "Let's just follow our hearts and see where that leads us."

"Our hearts," Aiko mused. "Never said I had one."

"Figuratively speaking, then, you have one."

"Hah, I knew it."

Aiko saw Mako walking to them with a couple dishes. "Knew what?"

"Or at least, suspected it," Mako admitted. "Don't mind this old woman."

"Something strange to say for someone who looks like she's just out of college."

"... Right," Mako smiled at them. "I'll leave you two alone so you can enjoy your date."

"Date..." Aiko blushed.

"You can blush. That's cute." Yuki said.

"I guess I programmed some things a bit too well," Aiko admitted.

Yuki laughed. Yeah, Usagi had been right, she really needed a change in her life, and said change had just presented itself to her.

* * *

"I don't think the time's right yet."

"But we could really use something like that. Overpopulation is getting out of hands, and..."

"It's not something we need to carry on to another world," Serenity said. "Endymion is right, we can't give the human race another planet to live in yet. Not until they actually start acting like one race."

ChibiUsa shook her head. "It's useless to speak with you."

"But I do see their point."

"You too, Hotaru?"

Hotaru shrugged. "You know, mankind's not different from some aliens we've fought. They only look for personal gain, or to be left alone and live in peace, not minding the suffering of others."

"That's human nature," ChibiUsa said, "it's pointless to try and change that which defines us."

"It would only be pointless if we didn't try," Serenity said.

"Hmph. All right, I will not bring up that idea again, until you deem it worth considering, _mother_."

Hotaru saw her friend walk out of the meeting room and let out a long sigh. "Don't mind her, she just got too ahead of herself with this idea."

Serenity nodded. "The time will come when we can restore the mana flow of all planets, but right now, it wouldn't be a good idea."

Endymion looked to the small image of Mars in one monitor. The red planet, he wondered how it had looked back then? He had never visited that world in his past life. "Wonder what it will do to the other Senshi."

Hotaru had been about to leave, but stopped. "What do you mean..."

"Haven't you noticed something about ChibiUsa?"

Hotaru couldn't really tell what the two meant. "Something? I don't know what you're saying."

"She must be feeling it too, and be upset that she's not able to give it an use," Serenity said. "See, there's a difference between the Senshi of the Moon and the others. One I only discovered after what I did with this planet."

"... Restoring the mana flow..."

"Even though Karin doesn't use her powers much, she must've felt it too," Endymion said, "a world with its mana flow blocked also weakens their Senshi. We can't gather large quantities of mana as fast as we'd sometimes wish to, and the only time that was possible was when Sailor Mars was filled with rage and despair. But nowadays, both me and Karin can use our powers faster than anyone. If we were still actively fighting enemies, we could show you what that means in action."

"... I've already seen it," Hotaru said, "I didn't realize it at the time, I couldn't really put a finger on it, but ChibiUsa doesn't seem to tire down at all, even using high level attacks."

Serenity nodded. "That's right. The Moon Senshi don't take their mana from the Moon only."

"So that's why..." Hotaru frowned. "So what, she wants to get more power?"

"I don't think that's her only reason," Serenity said, "I'm sure Setsuna told her about this, or she figured it out on her own. But if, for example, she uncapped Mars' wells, then the three Mars Senshi around would be stronger."

"I see, it's _that_ again."

Serenity noticed Hotaru's grim face. "You have to understand her... "

"I do, but I would rather see her forget about that issue already. "

"I don't think she ever will," Endymion admitted, "but don't let that bother you too much. You need to be by her side in times like these."

Hotaru nodded and then bowed to the two. "I understand, and I will not let her become one gloomy old woman. Not over something that's a thousand years away from us."

Serenity blinked as Hotaru vanished. "That went better than I thought."

"Maybe we're doing the wrong thing here?"

"Mamoru, don't you know our daughter?"

Endymion smiled. "Of course I do... If she really thought it was the right thing to do, then she wouldn't have bothered asking for permission at all."

* * *

Years passed by really fast, Mars realized. She was now watching her daughter train the two younger Senshi. Her daughter, Hisako, was now twenty-five years old. Which made Rei herself... Bah. She had heard Setsuna say it once, but only now she understood, age was quite a meaningless concept for someone who lived for too long.

Either that, or she didn't want to remember how old she really was.

"Fire Fangs!"

Rei smiled. Her daughter had hit Eternal level last year, but that attack of hers... A large tiger-like fire construct which chased her foes around. "Hisa, don't overdo it." It was their first training, after all, and Rei didn't want the two young Senshi to get hurt.

"Mom, he was the one telling me to fight at full power."

Her two foes were only at Twilight level, but one of them was actually smiling. That kid, for some reason he always gave the same friendly smile to everyone, and yet... It was a smile that looked fake to her. Or maybe it was all in her mind. He had started off being quite an isolated kid, but in the last few years, he had changed, and was quite friendly with others.

"Let's see what that cat can do," the young Dragon Saturn said, "Hail Requiem."

A blast of ice came from underneath the construct, knocking it up. The fiery tiger, however, wasn't too affected by it, and landed on its feet meters away from the two, snarling at them. "You shouldn't make her angry, you know?" Younger Mars teased.

"So I shouldn't," the Dragon said with a smile. "It's my one flaw, you know, I'm always thrilled to take on enemies stronger than me. An even battle would be a disappointment."

Hikaru, who was watching the 'show' along with Rei and Ami, sighed. "That kid's insane."

"Not really, his father also seemed to like it better when the fight wasn't easy."

Younger Lilith decided to stop watching and gave it a try. "Trick Shot."

Even though the blast was quite small, the construct reacted to it by leaping up. It seemed to smile as the blast missed its mark, then saw the ground where the blast had hit split, and a large water blast shooting up.

"Sorry, I should've said 'River Rage' there," Dragon Saturn noted.

"You two make a good team," Mars said.

Dragon Saturn nodded, noticing the construct was gone. "Yeah, when I heard her using that attack, I planned ahead, and decided to add my own 'trick' to hers."

"You're quite smart," Lilith said.

"Tell me something I don't know," Dragon Saturn teased. "So, Mars, shall we continue?"

"That trick was quite good," Mars admitted, "but you don't know all of my tricks yet."

"That's true, and I'm glad I finally got to fight you. I was a bit disappointed that you stopped at Guardian level, but then I heard you getting past that level and I just couldn't wait to face you."

Lilith sighed. "There he goes again."

"Hmph. Sorry that I enjoy battles, even if they're just training ones."

Ami nodded. "However, you shouldn't take your eyes off your enemy. "

"What do you mean, she's right in front of-- Oof!"

Lilith looked at the scene in shock for a few seconds, then started laughing. Hisako's fire construct hadn't vanished, it had actually used the hole her attack had created to sneak behind them, and had jumped out of the ground when Hisako gave it a mental command. However, the tiger was right now sitting on top of Dragon Saturn's back, and licking its front left paw as if it wasn't worried about its prey escaping.

"I think you've got a lot to learn about battles. Even if they're just training battles, leave your guard down for a second, and you could lose."

Dragon Saturn smiled at Mars. "I see... And you're right. Now could you get this stray cat off me?"

Mars banished her summon and then sighed. "Want to keep on fighting?"

"No, I see I will need to train a lot before I can hope to win," Dragon Saturn said, "still, it was a fun battle."

Ami smiled, her son had changed quite a lot the last few years. She still remembered how unfriendly he had been when he was younger, to the point she had almost lost all hopes for him to become more... Human.

Hikaru walked to the 'arena' as the two younger Senshi left. This 'arena' was created with the same technology (or magitek as some people called it,) as the shield around the city. No attacks could pass through its walls, so there was no risk of damaging the city while fighting. "Hey, Hisako, what about a one on one?"

"Hmph, want to get thrashed again?"

Hikaru smiled. "Don't get cocky, old lady, because I've got a surprise for you. Venus Light Power!"

"Oh..." Mars smiled at the new Eternal Senshi. "About time, you weakling."

Venus chuckled. "Let's see if you can beat me this time."

Takamaru had turned back to normal, and watched the fight as he thought about what he had learnt. He had underestimated those two, they weren't stupid, although their strategies weren't anything he could fall for twice. He had to train, to become stronger. With this new attitude of his, he was sure he would get what he wanted from them. He knew it from the way everyone looked at him nowadays, they all thought he had changed.

For beings who considered themselves the strongest warriors on Earth, they sure were a bunch of gullible fools.

* * *

Later on, everyone had left the training place, leaving Hisako and Hikaru alone. Hikaru knew this was the perfect chance for her. But she had been avoiding this for years now.

"What do you think of the newbies?"

That took her out of her brooding. "Tsuki's powers are quite special. As for that boy, do you realize how strong he could be if he got to our level?"

"I asked mom about that a couple years ago. She said that he can, in theory, have at least three times the power of a Senshi of the same level. More if angered. And unlike his father, he doesn't tire out fast while using both powers."

"It's a good thing he's on our side, then," Hikaru noted. She then looked at Hisako and blushed. "Damn..."

"What's wrong?"

"I've... I've been wanting to tell you something for years."

After almost two minutes of silence, Hisako groaned. "So, what is it?"

"It's not easy for me to say it," Hikaru admitted.

Somehow, Hisako guessed what her friend meant. "Hikaru, I..."

"I like you, not just as a friend," Hikaru said, then froze. There, she had said it, now it was only a matter of what her friend would say.

Hisako looked away. "I've suspected that for a while. I had dreaded that was the case, Hikaru."

"D... Dreaded?"

Hisako turned back to look at her and smiled. "I like you too, but... Not the same way you like me. You're someone special to me, but..."

"Stop," Hikaru said, her tone rather cold. "I get it."

"I don't want you to be mad at me, though, just..."

"I can't be mad at you," Hikaru said, fighting back tears, "but I'm angry at myself, I should have seen it, that you didn't feel the same way..."

Hisako saw her friend run off and sighed. She was quite worried about losing their friendship over this, but she was even more worried that she had hurt her friend. And didn't she feel _something_ for her too? She had never given it any thoughts, after all.

* * *

"Miss Hino, we have high level energy readings near the city."

Rei looked at her communicator. The woman speaking through it was the one who was left in charge of things when Mars and Nova weren't around. "Saki, what is it exactly?"

"From the readings I'm seeing here, it's the young Venus. Should I send someone there to check on it?"

"No, I'm going there personally. I'll tell you if I need help." As Rei put her comm away, she noticed someone walking to her. "Hisa?"

"I'm going there, too, mom. After all, this is my fault."

"But you could get hurt, let me handle this and..."

"I'm not asking you to let me go," Hisako noted, "and if I get hurt, I suppose it's a fair trade."

"Just what happened, exactly?"

"I don't have time to explain," Hisako said, "but let's try to get her to cool down without hurting her."

"Yes, that was my intention too," Rei admitted. "Let's go."

* * *

Serenity frowned. "That much power..."

Artemis had became aware of the power spike seconds before even Serenity did. "That's Hikaru!"

"I know," Serenity said, "but Mars is going there. If she can't handle this, I'll go there personally."

"She didn't completely lose it," Luna noted, "she got out of the city before letting her rage take over."

Serenity nodded. "I don't know what caused this, but I trust Rei."

* * *

The two Mars appeared near Younger Venus, and saw things were worse than they thought. The girl's body was shining with light, and was standing in the middle of a mile-wide crater. She noticed them and glared at the young Mars. "Go away!"

"Girl, get a hold of yourself," Mars said, "I don't know what happened, but you could hurt yourself doing this."

"I can't hurt myself more than she hurt me."

Younger Mars sighed at that. "Hikaru, please..."

"Shut up!" Light energy blasted out of her, hitting the two Mars. The old one only staggered back, but the younger... Younger Venus saw her friend hit the ground meters away, and froze. She then fell to her knees and looked at the older Mars. "I... I didn't mean to... "

Despite what the girl had done, Mars' eyes weren't showing her rage or disappointment, only pity. "Hikaru, I went through something like that, once in the past. You weren't even born back then."

"You mean, when your husband..."

Rei nodded. "I lost control of my powers, and burnt down my whole house, and was close to burning the rest of the city down. But someone helped me control it."

"Is she..."

Mars noticed the girl's eyes were fixed on Younger Mars' body. "No, she's just out cold. Your blast was powerful, yes, but I could tell you were holding back."

"Holding back..."

Mars sighed and produced her comm. "Hotaru, you available?"

"I'm here," Saturn said appearing near her. "Shit, what's up with her?"

"Not sure," Mars said, "but heal her. She's used far more power than her body could handle."

Saturn nodded and walked to the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just relax, girl."

Mars shrugged, her eyes not leaving Hikaru's prone form. "What exactly happened with you?"

"I..." Venus blushed. "I can't tell you."

Mars frowned. "Now, girl, listen up. You're like a daughter to me, but you just hurt my daughter, and I don't know what put you in this state. I need to know."

Venus appeared right then, and needed only take a look around to realize things had been rough for a minute. "Darn, Hikaru, what happened to you?"

"I want to know, too."

"She's okay now," Saturn said. "Should I heal Hisako?"

"No, she's just knocked out," Mars said. "Now..."

"I'll take care of her," Venus said.

"Wait, mom," Younger Venus looked around. She had visibly calmed, her initial anger gone. "Aunt Rei deserves to know it too."

Saturn shrugged. "I'll move Hisako back to her house, then."

Venus nodded. "Okay then, let's go home, you've got some explaining to do."

* * *

"... And that's when I run off... I felt something inside me awaken, and I sensed just how much power I was building up. I feared I would release that inside the city, so I teleported out."

Minako sighed. "I'm glad you could at least keep a hint of sense, then. You could've killed hundreds with that."

"I know." Hikaru looked down. "She must hate me now."

"Hisako?" Rei sighed. She couldn't blame this girl for being hurt, true her 'trigger' hadn't been as 'bad' as what had happened to her, but it was still something she could sympathise with. "I don't think she will be mad at you... Even scared of you. She knows you weren't quite yourself when you hit her."

"But you two need to talk this out later on," Minako noted.

"What is there to talk about?" Hikaru said, "I love her, she doesn't. I can live with that."

"You can? That crater outside the city says otherwise," Minako noted.

"I..."

"Hikaru, you should know what Hisako thinks of you," Rei said, "you're like a younger sister to her, I doubt she's ever thought about you the way you..."

"A younger sister, huh?" Hikaru smiled for a second. "I've always seen her as an older sister."

"As I said, you two need to talk about it."

"I guess..."

"And get that gloomy face off," Minako said, "I don't think Hisa wants to see you like this."

"That's true," Hikaru said. "Think she's up already?"

"No idea," Rei admitted, "I'll go check on her."

* * *

"Hope you're not against..."

Ami shook her head. "Yuki, I'm okay with it. And even if I wasn't," she smiled at that, "Aiko's as stubborn as her father."

"Heh, a wonder genetics aren't involved in this."

"Maybe they... Are," Ami said, "but I was never able to find an explanation for how Aiko was born. And nowadays, I don't really care about it. I'm not about to dissect her."

"So, where is she right now?"

"Serenity wanted to talk to her, but she will be back soon."

"Then I'll wait for her, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

* * *

"Tsuki, did you feel that power spike a few minutes ago?"

"Yes. You look happy."

Takamaru nodded. "It's amazing, such a power... I'm sure it was one of the old Senshi."

"But what were they fighting against?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it got fried," Takamaru said. "It's just awesome. We could get to that level, someday!"

"I don't really care. It's not like we have anything to fight against."

"You shouldn't think like that," Takamaru muttered, "something could show up, something so strong the old Senshi required out help to fight it."

"Hmph... I don't see how that could happen, but you've got a point," Tsuki said.

Takamaru smiled. True, he had mostly played along with her, making her think he was her friend. But that was before, since he was starting to feel something else about her. Friendship, perhaps? He couldn't tell, it wasn't like he had felt anything but hatred towards anyone before.

Maybe he could use her help. Once the two of them were at least at Eternal level, he would tell her what he was planning. And if she didn't agree, well... He would just have to get rid of her.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope having more than one Sailor/Dragon for each planet isn't getting too confusing. The new generation won't be limited to the few that are already around. And yeah, Takamaru's one sneaky little bastard. But the actual angsty part will be delayed until next episode (Changing things on the run? Me? Never!)

Also, keep in mind Takamaru and Tsuki are twelve years younger than Hisako. That makes the brat thirteen... And already at Twilight level.

_DavisJes_: Your guess was quite right. Kyma doesn't really _need_ a lover. She was just curious about it and looking at it from the sidelines for a while.


	5. Training and trials

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 5: Training and trials.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: November 30, 2008_

* * *

"May I come in?"

"Sure."

They had been avoiding each other for two days now, but Hikaru had finally decided it was useless to run away from this mess. It would only hurt their friendship in the end. As she walked into the room, she saw Hisako sitting there, staring at her. "I'm Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Hisako asked.

"Well, I hurt you back there."

"Maybe I deserved it," Hisako admitted, "and it was nothing compared to..."

"That's not your fault," Hikaru noted, "I guess I'll just have to get used to the idea."

"You know, I've been giving it some thought. What I said then is true, you're my best friend, but I never saw anything else in you. "

"And you're like an older sister to me, even now," Hikaru said.

"But you didn't just fall in love with me overnight."

"Heh, that's true."

"Now listen, Hikaru. Don't think of what I said before as a 'no' but as a 'maybe.'"

Hikaru smiled happily. "That is..."

"I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I also don't know if I'll ever feel that way for you."

"A 'maybe,' huh? I can wait. We're not getting any older."

"Isn't that true?" Hisako smiled. True, she still looked like she was in her late teens, aging was already slowing down for her.

* * *

"How are things going in the utopia, sir?"

Terry smiled. "Pretty utopic."

"Eeeh. I see your sense of humor hasn't improved one bit."

"That's true, Sam. But at least it didn't get worse, either."

"Would that even be possible?"

"Doubt it," Terry admitted. "Is dad around?"

Jack walked in right then. He looked at his son and sighed. "Must be nice to don't get old and ugly, huh?"

"I'm looking forwards to spending a thousand years in Boringsville," Terry said, "though don't tell Usagi or Ami I said that."

"You were getting used to the fighting, huh?"

"Yeah, but I really can't complain."

"Maybe I can create an army of super-robots and send them to shoot at that shield of yours."

Terry chuckled. "I'll tell Serenity about that."

"I wasn't serious."

"Yeah, but our younger members need the training."

"How's Takamaru doing?"

"He's doing fine, he's a lot more sociable than he was years ago. I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think he may start dating someone soon."

"So things are going to be peaceful for a while."

"Yeah, most likely." Though he knew all too well that the Universe seemed to have a dreadful sense of humor, and saying something like that could very well bring forth an alien invasion fleet or two.

* * *

"Pluto, I need to speak to you."

To most other members of the Crystal Tokyo royalty, it would've been strange to just call out a name and expect the person to appear before them. However, Pluto was already used to this, Serenity had done it several times in the past, and she had heed her call except for the two times when she had been busy with something else.

And so, Sailor Pluto appeared before her Queen, bowing to her. "What do you need, Serenity?"

"I know you can see hints of the future, and I've become aware of something about one of the younger Senshi. I haven't told anyone else yet, though, but..."

"My position forces me to tell you to wait, to not tell anyone about it," Pluto said.

"Can't you look at it from another perspective?"

Pluto let out a long sigh. "Yes. That child will create chaos, and it's possible he gets out of hands pretty soon. As Sailor Pluto, I say you shouldn't tell anyone. But as a friend, I suppose the child's parents deserve to know the truth."

"Maybe if we act now, we can steer him off the dangerous path he's on."

"But he could still stay the same," Pluto noted.

"I'll take the risk. Now all I need to figure out is how to tell her about this."

"If there's nothing else you wanted to ask me..."

"How's the _little one_?"

Pluto smiled. "Why, Serenity, we shouldn't be speaking about someone who doesn't exist."

"Tell her I said hi."

Pluto nodded. "Of course."

* * *

Ami was quite curious about what the Queen wanted. It wasn't often at all that Serenity asked her to come speak to her in private. At least, not with the tone she had used. She sounded dead serious, and worried about whatever she was going to tell her about.

She walked past the guards who stood in front of the throne room's large crystal doors. Guard duty there was both a honor and a quite boring job, she realized as she nodded to the two men. As she entered the room, she saw it was empty, not counting the Queen. "Serenity, what is it you wanted to..."

"Ami, this is difficult for me to say, and I know you will have a hard time believing it, so..."

"You're too serious today."

"Because this is a serious matter," Serenity admitted. "Listen, Ami, lately I've become aware of something I sense in your son."

Ami was now quite worried, and it showed. "What's wrong with Takamaru?"

"You know I can sense evil in creatures of most races I've met. And your son, he's got a bit too much of that."

"Your mind must be tricking you."

Serenity sighed. "I feared this. Ami, I'm not saying your son is evil. But there's something in him that's making him steer into that path. He needs help."

"This can't be. He's smart. He's kind. He's friendly, he..."

"He's our son, so we need to help him."

"Terry, when did you..."

"Serenity already explained it to me, and I had almost the same reaction you're having," Terry admitted, "but we can't ignore this. You know Usagi would never lie about something this serious."

Ami looked at him and her eyes widened. "That's true. Serenity, sorry about..."

"Don't worry. Now go, Takamaru needs you both."

* * *

He should've known this would happen. "But mom, I'm not evil, I just like to fight, what's wrong with that?"

"You're not telling us the truth. There must be something you hate, and it's better to do something about it than to keep all your anger inside."

"What I hate..." Takamaru frowned. He was cornered, that old hag Serenity had seen through his deception. He couldn't lie, but he also didn't care right now. "I hate the people of this city, only living safely because the Senshi are around. They're weak, they're useless, they..."

"They're human, just like us," Ami said. "Not every human is going to be able to throw elemental attacks like we do, but that's what we're here for, to protect them."

"And another thing I don't like... Why are you just staying at that power? See, I don't understand that. I've always wanted to be the smartest, the strongest, always thought that was my destiny."

"If you want to become stronger, we can help you," Terry said.

Ami looked at Takamaru with a quite serious face for a few seconds. "Do you really hate us?"

Takamaru frowned. "No. I didn't like that you decided to stay at that level, but..."

Ami smiled. "It's not that we _decided to_ stay at this level, Taka. There's no higher level than this."

Takamaru looked at his mother and gasped. "But then what about the power spike I felt..."

"If you mean what happened a few days ago, then that's nothing you can consciously reach."

Terry nodded. "That... A Senshi needs to feel a rage so strong, they aren't able to control their power anymore. They let loose an incredible power, but they are likely to die after using it."

"In short, with that much power, my body wouldn't resist it," Takamaru guessed. "But then, who did..."

"That was Hikaru, fortunately Saturn and Mars were around and they brought her back to her senses."

"Gee, I miss all the action," Takamaru muttered.

"Be glad you did. Someone at your level, being hit by a Senshi in that state, would be dead before they realized what happened."

Takamaru nodded, but his mind was already thinking about what he had been told. So he had been wrong, there was a limit for their power, and he could get there with their help. "What about Serenity?"

"Her power's out of our reach," Ami admitted. "She's not like the other Senshi. If you're thinking about fighting her..."

"... What, you mean she knows how to fight too?"

"She's saved the world many times in the past, in fact she first saved the world when she was not much older than you. Though she was weaker than you are now. Also, our last big enemy killed us all, and she brought us back."

"Wow... Then she's really powerful."

"Maybe we'll get you to the palace to visit her."

Takamaru smiled. "Aren't you afraid I would try something?"

"We just told you about that enemy we fought last... She didn't kill her, she just took all her powers from her."

"So she can..."

"She could do the same to you, yes, if you don't behave."

Takamaru flinched. That woman was truly powerful. He had never really seen Serenity, only on TV, and he had always thought she was some relic who just sat around and did nothing at all. "So I guess I should apologize for fooling you."

"Apologize with actions, not words," Terry noted, "you're a smart one, I'm sure you'll know what to do from now on."

The boy smiled. Yes, he was bored of being alone, he was bored of trying to push his limits on his own. And the alternative didn't sound too good, being left without any powers wasn't something he wanted to try.

* * *

"I would've liked to see the past, you know..."

"You mean Silver Millenium?"

"Of course. I can't help but wonder what life was like back then."

"Much like today."

Yukiko frowned. "How do you know, the others told you?"

Aiko smirked. "No, I can access mom's computer, so I've read much of the things it has on Silver Millenium and the times before that."

"Never seen you read anything."

Aiko sighed. "See, one of the bad things about being what I am... I can read and memorize data faster than any human ever could. I can't read books at the speed I would normally, because I would be passing the pages so fast I'd destroy them."

"Wow. The more I know about you..."

"The freakier I seem?"

"Not at all," Yuki said, leaning to Aiko. She stopped, though, and looked around. "Okay, you two, you should know I can 'see' you behind that tree."

"Gah, didn't think she would find out if we lowered our power," Hikaru said as she and Hisako walked out from their hiding spot behind a tree.

"Eavesdropping isn't nice," Aiko said, "I'll have to punish you."

Hikaru laughed at that. "But you've got no powers of your own, ri... " She stopped as Aiko's hands lit up. "Eeeh... Should I run now?"

"I may never need to use it, but I've got a built-in mana blaster. Fortunately for you, I'm in a good mood."

Hisako groaned and dragged Hikaru away. "Sorry 'bout that, she's as much of an airhead as her mother was in the past."

Yuki smiled as Aiko turned back to her. "Built-in mana blaster, huh?"

"Just one more thing to add to my charm."

* * *

Ami looked at Terry and smiled. "Now, let's do this."

"Right," Terry summoned his sword, Frostbite and looke at Ami. "Anytime you're ready."

Ami summoned her glove and visor and nodded. "Go ahead."

Terry's sword vanished and he looked at Ami. "Found what you were looking for?"

Ami looked at the data in her computer and smiled. "Sure did. Now I know for sure there's no such thing as a 'pocket dimension' for us to put all our things into."

Terry was surprised at that. "Then where do they go?"

"They go nowhere, they just change." She looked at a monitor in the far side of the wall. "I suppose I should have seen this before, but never really took my time to consider just what happened to those objects."

"Care telling me?"

"It's easy to explain. They become pure mana, and are always near us."

"Now that's a hell of a theory."

"I've got enough data to back it up," Ami said pointing at her computer glove.

"Now I wonder what's the speed of mana."

"Speed of..." Ami was, for once, lost.

"Dad's old teleportation devices never got out of the development phase. There were some complications, besides, you know, thunderstorms."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, I do remember that."

"But what if we could turn matter into mana, then direct it to somewhere else, and then revert the process?"

"Guess we just found something to do while we wait for the next alien starfleet."

Terry chuckled. "Anyway, should I get Aiko to help us?"

Ami nodded. "Hope she's not busy."

Terry smiled at her. "Our little girl's grown up, huh?"

Ami looked at her computer again and paled. "Oh crap."

"What's wrong?" Terry asked, but then looked through the window and saw a black dome, miles away from them. "Damn, she's doing it again!"

But the dome was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Let's check on her," Ami said.

Terry nodded. "Right, something's got the be quite wrong for her to lose control."

* * *

When the two Mercuries reached their target, they noticed there was more people around than they expected. "Serenity?"

Ami noticed Saturn was healing Shingo, who looked quite beaten up, and Serenity was sitting besides Hana, who was crying and not looking up at them. "What happened here?"

"Her parents," Serenity started, but Hana put a hand in front of her to stop her.

"They're both... Dead," Hana said, looking up at Terry. "From what I was told, someone broke into the mansion, but dad tried to resist, and..."

Terry looked to the side and grimaced. Shingo looked like he had been too close when her rage exploded. "What happened to..."

"That's my fault," Hana said, "I couldn't control my rage, not this time. I almost killed him."

Serenity sighed. "And that's why I'm here... I had no choice but to take her powers from her."

Terry paled. "Well, that's... You can, uhm, give them back?"

Serenity nodded. "I don't really 'take' anything, but I simply block her access to them. However, I don't think it's..."

"You can leave them like this, for all I care."

"But..."

"Shut up, Terry. What good are these powers? I couldn't save my parents, and I almost kill Shingo. I'm better off without them."

"I understand you're scared right now, but..."

"Scared, yeah. Scared that I'll go back to New York and kill every single criminal there, since I don't really know who did it."

"I can help with that."

Hana heard Shingo's weak voice and turned to him. "Shingo, I'm sorry about..."

"Don't worry. I suppose if I was in your place, I wouldn't have it easy controlling myself, either."

"I'm going to go back there for the funeral," Hana said, "and I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"Don't go on a vendetta or anything, Hana."

Hana glared at Terry. "Of course I won't. I'm not stupid enough to go and try to fight anyone powerless."

"I've unlocked your powers already," Serenity said.

Hana hadn't noticed, but she could sense Serenity was right. "Huh? Why?"

"Because I trust you."

"But I'm going back there, I could just do what I said before..."

"That's up to you," Serenity noted, "just don't regret what you do later on."

Hana turned to the side and frowned. "Eh, the house is..." She was sure she had wrecked it completely, but there it was, apparently in one piece. "Thanks for everything."

"I don't like to see my friends hurt," Serenity said.

Hana nodded, but a part of her mind was already waging an inner war. Only twice in the past she had killed criminals, and both times were accidental, as her psi shield had bounced the bullets back at them. She couldn't kill humans deliberately, even for revenge. She would have to find out just the one responsible for her parents' deaths, and make him pay. She would make sure he rot in jail for the rest of his (or her) life.

But, also, she was afraid of what she'd actually do once she found that person. If anger got the best of her, then there wouldn't be enough left of him to fill a spoon.

* * *

"Why do I have to tag along?"

Younger Venus chuckled. "Don't be a cranky old woman, Hisa."

The four Younger Senshi were right now standing outside the throne room's doors. Serenity had called them all upon hearing Ami's request. "I wonder what she looks like in person," Lilith pondered.

"We're about to find out," Dragon Saturn noted.

"You're no fun."

"You may enter," one of the two guards said upon 'hearing' the mental command from Serenity herself. The doors opened, and the four Senshi walked in.

The two youngest Senshi looked around the room in awe. It wasbigger than it seemed from the outside, big enough to throw a party in, actually. However, their attention was drawn to the woman sitting on the throne in the far side of the room.

Even the two older Senshi had a hard time not being intimidated by her right now. They had seen her several times before, since she often visited their parents, but she never left her power like this, uncloaked. If mana had weight, they would have been crushed by the mana she was surrounded by.

"You're scaring them."

The four looked to the side, noticing the small black cat standing near the throne. The distraction wasn't quite accidental, and it was effective. When they turned back to the Queen, the intimidating aura around her was almost completely gone.

"I thought cutting my power down by half would be enough," Serenity said to Luna apologetically.

"H- Half?" Dragon Saturn almost shouted.

Serenity smiled at him. "Yes, what you sensed was only fifty percent of my real magic power."

Lilith sighed. "That was scary."

Serenity rose an eyebrow at that. "So I take it your parents never showed you their true level."

Mars groaned. "If you're done scarying off the kids..."

Serenity gave her a meaningful look. "Sometimes, Hisa, you remind me of your mother when she was younger."

"Wait, you mean our parents are also..."

Serenity looked at Takamaru. "Ami is capable of using an attack that will freeze any water inside an enemy in a split second. Even though it's a melee attack, it was still quite an incredible skill."

"Mom... Can do that?" The young Dragon blinked.

"And your father, well... If he were to use his dual powers, I suppose he could get close to my full power," Serenity continued. "In fact, Princess Serenity, my dear daughter, is incredibly close to my own power, even now."

"So many strong people..." Dragon Saturn said. "I have a request."

"Wait, you're not going to..." Mars muttered.

"Serenity, I would like to face you in battle."

Serenity smiled. "You should know it will be useless."

"It won't," Dragon Saturn said, "I need to know just how strong I can hope to be."

"Then you'll face me."

They all turned to the person who had just appeared in the throne room. There was no confusing her, even for those who had never seen her personally. "Princess..." Mars said.

"Hisako, don't be so formal," ChibiUsa said, "after all, we're both from the same generation." She noticed Takamaru looking at her and smiled as she let her full power flare. "I can sympathise with you, since I was also born a warrior. However, if I were to fight for real, you would be lucky if you even saw the first movement at all. "

"Hmph, I won't believe that until I see it."

"Very well..." ChibiUsa looked at the Queen. "May I...?"

Serenity smiled. "Always stealing my spotlight, daughter. But go right ahead, I don't mind."

"The truth is, mom, I've kept on training by myself."

"Hmm? Now you got me interested too," Serenity mused.

"I can't take all the kids _there_ so I guess they're going to miss this short fight."

Serenity smiled. "Is Pluto aware of this?"

"Of course."

"Then she won't mind me tagging along," Serenity said.

Luna blinked as the others vanished. "Still the same old Usagi after all."

* * *

"Whoa, where are we?"

Mars looked around. "Mom told me about this. This is the time tunnel which connects past, present and future."

"That's correct," Serenity said. "This brings back memories."

"And not all of them good," ChibiUsa said, "In any case, while we're here, I don't have to worry about letting my power flare. Moon Holy Power!"

Dragon Saturn flinched, this woman's power had gone further up as she transformed. Did that mean Serenity's power was also not at its real peak right now?

"The face you're making, boy, it's nice. It'd be sad to enter battle with someone who doesn't know he's out of his league."

Dragon Saturn frowned. "Even then, even if my enemy's stronger, I won't give up."

ChibiMoon vanished, appearing right behind him. "Yes, that's how a Senshi should think."

The Dragon dodged her sword slash, but he then realized something. She was holding back. "Won't you fight me for real?"

"Don't be stubborn," ChibiMoon said. "If one of my full-power blasts hit you, I would have to go call Hotaru to bring you back."

"Hmph. Well then, let's see if I can still beat you," Dragon Saturn said.

"You're holding back too."

Dragon Saturn looked at Serenity. "What..."

"I can 'see' things that others wouldn't understand even if I tried to explain. Twilight isn't your real power level."

"I'm surprised you knew that," Dragon Saturn said, "but it's fine. Saturn Star Power!"

"Still not enough," ChibiMoon snapped then vanished.

"Not going to fall for the same trick twice!" the Dragon said and turned back, already slashing down at his foe. However, ChibiMoon was ready and blocked his sword with her own.

"I knew you wouldn't," ChibiMoon said then punched his chest. A wave of energy shot into his body, knocking him off.

"Thought you weren't going to fight for real." Venus noted.

"That was only strong enough to knock him out," ChibiUsa said, then gave a small leap to the side, barely dodging the sword slash that followed. She saw Dragon Saturn standing there and frowned. "How did you..." She looked at the Dragon on the ground and saw his body was now transluscent. "A fake..."

"Surprised you, didn't I?" Dragon Saturn noted. "I've also finally figured out how to fire those attacks without voicing them out."

"Hah, nice," ChibiMoon said as the two circled each other, waiting for the right time to attack. "Took us old girls a while to figure that one out."

Dragon Saturn smiled. "True, and you should also realize you're underestimating me."

"Watch out!" Venus said as she realized what the boy meant.

ChibiMoon felt the stab and grimaced. "Ugh... Damn it."

The Dragon smirked from behind her, as the one in front of her vanished. "See, you keep on underestimating me."

His foe chuckled. "And you too." _'Heartbeat Wall.'_

"What the..." Dragon Saturn looked around in shock. He was trapped in some kind of pink-hued forcefield. "Hey, what did you do?"

"A heart?" Lilith asked.

"Yes, that's the shape of most of her attacks," Serenity said, "but if you think they're weak because of their shape, then you'll really end up regretting it when fighting her." But, she had used that attack without touching her foe this time. So, that's what she had learnt from her training?

"You should never consider the battle won with just one stab," ChibiMoon said as a glaive appeared in her hands.

"What's she going to do with that?" Venus asked.

"That's Hotaru's glaive," Mars noted. "How can she..."

"Oh, that's what she meant, then," Serenity said with a chuckle.

The Dragon punched the heart several times, but realized the wall wasn't giving in. "I suppose I won't be getting out of this. I give up."

"Good," ChibiUsa said and pushed the sword out of her side. "Even if I planned it, it still hurts a damn lot." She looked at 'her' glaive and smiled. "As for the training I talked about... Saturn Healing Stream!"

Serenity saw the glaive shine, and a beam washed over ChibiMoon. The sword wound closed in a few seconds, and ChibiMoon made it vanish. "Isn't doing that dangerous?"

"I can't use all of Saturn's powers," ChibiMoon said, "but I can heal myself or others almost as well as her now."

"..." Dragon Saturn flinched. So he wasn't the only one using dual powers. "Hey, mind getting me out of here?"

ChibiMoon smiled. "Of course." The heart vanished and she looked around. "It's all because of this place, too."

Serenity sighed. "I guessed that. I've sensed you and Hotaru entering this place several times in the past few days."

"A few days for you, a few months for us," ChibiMoon noted with a wink.

The Dragon gasped. "Hold it, but... You mean you're training here?"

"Yes, but it's an exception to the rule. Nobody's allowed in here unless Pluto herself says so."

"Hmmm... That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"

"I suppose. But tell you what, I'll help you training too. It'll stop me from being bored out of my mind until the next alien fleet arrives."

Serenity looked at the boy. The evil in him was almost gone now. He had realized there was no need to hate and fight those who could help him be stronger. That spark of evil was not gone for good, but then again, even Serenity herself had a bit of evil inside. What mattered was never letting it take control.

* * *

It had been one fortunate coincidence, she knew that, but a part of her still wished things had worked differently. She had been busy for a while, 'asking' around for information on the murderer, but once she finally got his identity, she was also told she had been too late to get her revenge.

"Maybe I should thank them."

Shingo frowned. "Hana, you..."

"I know, those mages are criminals as well, but they killed that bastard."

"Along with fifty other civilians," Shingo noted.

"Right," Nova said. "Wait right here, if any of them tries to get away, you know what to do."

Shingo smiled as Nova vanished, and summoned his sword. "Sure do."

The fight itself took only a couple minutes, and not many of the mages made it out of it alive. As Nova looked at the now wrecked building, she sighed. "Okay, I'm done with this issue."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not going to be okay for quite some time, but..." she leaned on Shingo's shoulder. "Let's go back home."

Shingo put an arm around her and sighed. "Wish I could help you more. "

"Just being with me is enough," Nova said. "Even after I almost..."

"Don't worry about that, I knew the risks, and I was ready for them. "

* * *

"I still see darkness in his future. There's a chance that he..."

"Setsuna, I know that, but if the darkness inside him is a trouble, then wouldn't it be the same for everyone else?"

"Serenity, I don't..."

"My daughter's teaching him now. If he tries anything funny, I'm sure she will be able to knock him back to his senses."

"That's true," Pluto said. "I will still keep an eye on him."

"Me too."

* * *

"So, you're going to train the brats?"

ChibiUsa nodded. "Want to tag along?"

Hotaru chuckled. "That could be fun. I can teach that kid what death magic looks when used correctly."

"He knows a trick you never used, though."

"Oh? Now that I have to see."

"Full control over ice and death magic... That kid's really something. He could become stronger than most of the old Senshi."

"Even me?"

"Even... No, not quite like me, or mom."

"Yeah, well, you two cheat."

"I'm going to have to punish you for saying that."

"Oh? I thought you weren't into that kind of stuff."

"..." ChibiUsa shook her head and giggled. "And here I was trying to sound menacing..."

"You would be menacing if you weren't a _rabbit_," Hotaru teased.

"Oh, now you've done it," ChibiUsa muttered.

"You know, this place's really something. We've really gone ballistic on each other here, and its walls don't even dent."

"Not even Puu or Ami are sure exactly what the walls are made of," ChibiUsa said looking around, "but it's a good thing we can come to train here for as long as we want."

"If we keep coming here, though, you'll end up being older than your mother."

"Hah, now that's one funny paradox."

"Oh, you two are around. I thought I wouldn't find anyone here today. "

The two turned to the voice. "I suppose you're 'her,' right?"

"Name's Saki," the woman said. "And I suppose there's no harm in showing myself, since you already know about me."

* * *

**A/N:** I don't really think it's hard to know who that woman is... If you use your imagination.

As for Takamaru, you haven't really seen the last of him yet. His life will be an eventful one, indeed.


	6. The darkest soul

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 6: The darkest soul.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: December 10, 2008_

* * *

Hotaru looked at the newcomer. The outfit was the same as Pluto's suit, but she looked younger. At least, her eyes looked younger, compared to Pluto's eyes. "... Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "Saki Meiou, but you can call me Younger Pluto."

"Wait, what..." Hotaru looked at ChibiUsa and frowned. "You knew about this."

"I knew she existed, but this is the first time I see her."

Hotaru had added everything up quite fast, and knew who this was, no matter how impossible it seemed. "So you're Setsuna's daughter?"

"Yes and no," Saki said.

"Ugh, you definitely are, you ove speaking in riddles."

Saki laughed. "See, I'm Sailor Pluto's daughter, but not of the Sailor Pluto you know. I come from a reality where the Senshi were defeated. In that reality, Pluto fell in love with a civilian, and she... Well, she had to leave her post for a while when she got pregnant."

"Puu told me about that. An enemy came from another era and killed most of the Senshi before they could even realize what had hit them. That world's Pluto died, too, but that was when our Setsuna got there. She had sensed a strange energy in that universe."

"She sensed the power of Pluto, but in a different soul," Saki continued. "She found me barely alive, and attacked the enemy. They weren't expecting another Pluto to be there, and specially not one a hundred times stronger than any Senshi they'd faced before."

ChibiUsa nodded. "And afterwards, she knew she couldn't abandon the little girl there, so she took her back here... Saki is, after all, her daughter."

"... That's quite a story," Saturn noted. "But what exactly do you do here?"

"I watch over the time gate while mother isn't around."

"Bet you've always wondered how Pluto was able to be a history teacher back when we were teens," ChibiUsa mused.

"Wait until Haruka and Michiru hear they have a sister..." Hotaru mused.

"That won't happen," Saki said. Her tone was neutral, but the warning was quite clear. "They must not know about me, for several more centuries at least."

"Gotcha," Hotaru said. "I suppose even I wasn't meant to know about you."

"You were, because we will meet again in the future," Saki said, "but now I must return to my post, so goodbye."

Hotaru looked at the spot where the young Pluto had been standing seconds before. "Considering whose daughter she is, she's quite normal."

* * *

One could probably call the six years that passed dull, and would be quite right. The Earth was seemingly becoming a quieter world, since wars were stopped by Crystal Tokyo's army, or by the few Senshi that weren't residing in the city. There was practically no human being that didn't know how the Senshi looked like, at least in their battle outfits.

But things had became a bit more active in the area surrounding Crystal Tokyo in the past few years, too. There were always explosions and light shows that were visible from the city itself, and most citizens knew what that was about. Princess Serenity was training the new generation of Senshi, and had been doing quite a good job, too.

Queen Serenity herself had decided to watch today's training, after being invited by her daughter many times. She had been living an extremely quiet life herself, not counting the political meetings and parties she had to attend now and then. True, at first she had let Endymion take care of all the political issues, but that was decades ago, and she had slowly learnt to handle those issues herself.

Her mind returned to the issue at hand as an explosion rocked the area. "They quite good, I'm glad I decided to come watch them today. "

"That's true," Younger Mars said. She was wearing a Holy Senshi uniform, just like the others. It had taken some extreme, life-threatening training to get their powers to that point, but Serenity knew her daughter wasn't doing this on a whim. The more, the merrier, as the saying went, and they would surely need as many extra Senshi as they could gather in the future.

Younger Lilith phased out of the field and stood right besides Serenity, a line of blood running down her arm. "Guess I'm out of luck."

Saturn, who had been silently watching, started healing her. "You were quite right, Serenity, Takamaru is almost as strong as me or Chibi now."

"Almost?" Serenity frowned at that. With a dual power like his, she would've guessed he would be stronger than Saturn, at least.

"Don't give me that look. I have to admit I didn't quite understand why Chibi trained at first, but training with her has really helped me beyond what I would have expected in the past."

ChibiMoon and Younger Dragon Saturn were now sparring with plain physical strength. Even then, the impact of their blows shook the air around them. Serenity recalled the times when Ami told them their physical strength would increase to unknown levels with time and training. Her friend sure had a lot of foresight. "If you don't mind, I would want a little demonstration on what you can do," the Queen noted.

Saturn smiled. "Right." She turned to the two that were sparring. "Hey Chibi, can I borrow your weapon?"

"Go right ahead," ChibiMoon noted right before blocking a spinning kick from the Dragon. "Sometimes, I think I taught you too well."

Dragon Saturn smiled as he leapt away. "Hey, what's Hotaru going to do now?"

ChibiMoon smiled back. "Want to watch? It will be interesting." True, they hadn't really showed off the results of their own training to the others yet. A training that had her, right now, be only one year younger than her mother, thanks to the time spent in the time tunnel.

Saturn had, meanwhile, summoned the Moonshine. A thin white aura had surrounded her as soon as she did that, and she sighed. "It's the first time I'm going to use this on anyone other than Chibi. But if it doesn't work on her, it won't work on you, either."

"Go ahead," Serenity said. She was curious about this, she didn't know Saturn could use ChibiUsa's talisman to attack.

"Hey wait, are you going to shoot the Queen?" Lilith asked.

Saturn frowned. "If I hit you, Tsuki, or any other of the Younger, you would be out cold for a few days."

Mars was staring at Saturn silently, so Venus chuckled. "Hey, thought you didn't like..."

Mars snickered. "It's not that, but her power is amazing."

"Yeah, guess we still need to train."

Saturn pointed 'her' sword at the Queen and nodded. "Here I go. Lunar Funeral!"

Serenity suddenly found herself surrounded by wraiths, all of which had Hotaru's face. Before she could move away, all the wraiths shoot at her at the same time, causing a small explosion. The beams they shot were lunar magic, Serenity realized as she was momentarily blinded by the blast.

"Damn, that attack was too much," Venus said.

The Queen, however, was still standing there when the attack ended. Other than her hair being a bit ruffled, there was no damage from the attack. "That's one amazing attack, Hotaru."

"And one I don't expect to use in a real battle anytime soon."

Dragon Saturn flinched. Saturn's attack had been stronger than anything he could shoot, and the Queen hadn't even flinched. He still had to train more, to become stronger, in order to be up to par with them.

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside the city, Ami Mizuno was talking to the two other top scientists of Crystal Tokyo. "... And they've asked me to help with that."

"So they can't seem to find a way to give the Moon or Mars a life-supporting atmosphere..." Tomoe frowned. "If I'm not mistaken, I heard the Princess had intended to do something like that with Mars, but the Queen was against the idea."

"I know that. Terry?"

"Scientists are, even nowadays, still skeptical to magic. I suppose we could have the Princess go to the Moon herself and restore its atmosphere."

"But that alone won't do. We'll need to transport plants and animals there in order to stabilize its ecosystem."

"We will have to discuss this with the Queen," Terry said. "Tell our 'friends' in Europe we will consider their request."

* * *

ChibiUsa looked around. This was a rare event, for her mother to call her to her private quarters. She could still go there anytime she wanted, it wasn't like the Queen forbade anyone from visiting her there.

What was even more rare, was to see the Queen in civilian clothing. ChibiUsa smirked at that, she had almost forgotten how she looked without her gown.

"So, mom, was there anything you wanted from me?"

"I've been thinking about the Younger," Usagi said, using the term they had all agreed on to designate the second generation of Senshi. ChibiUsa herself was one of them, too, which was one reason why she had eagerly become their trainer. "While their level is already Holy, they lack any real combat experience."

"I'm quite aware of that. While I've put them in some apparently life-threatening situations, I was never going all out against them. A real enemy wouldn't have such handicap."

"So, I was thinking they should go out and get some real experience. "

ChibiUsa nodded. "Even if they lack experience, there shouldn't be anything out there which would pose a threat to anyone at our level. "

"Keep your guard up, just in case."

"I will tell Hotaru about this." Suddenly, ChibiUsa realized something. "Oh, now I know why you're dressed like that... It was today, right?"

Usagi smiled sadly. "Yes, it's been one year now since she..."

ChibiUsa saw a single tear running down Usagi's cheek. One year ago, she now remembered, Usagi had also been in civilian clothing, but that time she had been crying unconsolably. It was hard to believe Ikuko had been gone for two year now. "So Kenji's coming to visit?"

"No, I'm going there myself."

"I'll tag along, then," ChibiUsa said. Not only because she wanted to see the old man again before he also passed away, but because she wanted to be by her mother's side today, to help her out of her gloom.

* * *

Ami smiled as she looked at the data from her scanner. "Hmm, seems like your guess was correct, Naru."

"You mean, I'm..."

Ami nodded. "You're pregnant."

"So, that means we'll have a little Nemesis running around," Naru said with a grin.

"Either that, or a boy in a Rockman suit," Ami commented. They were both at Naru's house, and Ami had to admit the house was quite a show. Naru had, years before the foundation, become a jewel collector, and the house nowadays had several display cases with her most valuable pieces.

It wasn't as if crime was an issue, after all, inside the city. Last theft report had been seven years ago, and the Crystal Tokyo internal security office, led by Rei, was nowadays more focused in helping citizens with their everyday problems, while keeping an eye for the unlikely case someone did commit a crime.

Naru's words took Ami out of her brooding. "These are really good news, I can't wait to tell Umino about it."

Just then, Umino walked into the house. "Tell me about what?"

"Ami just confirmed it, I'm pregnant," Naru said. Umino promptly fainted. "He took it rather well," Naru muttered.

* * *

Serenity looked at the four Senshi standing in front of her. "As you heard from your leader, we've decided to send you out of the city for one year. You may head to any country you want, but remember, you're not going there as tourists, but to fight evil."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

The Queen looked at Tsuki. She was the one Younger Senshi that spoke the less, and even though she had trained as much as the others, Serenity knew this girl was much like herself, and hated the idea of fighting. "It's completely safe. You four are at the same level as the Elders, so there shouldn't be anything out there that could really hurt you. However, all the training you have won't be worth anything unless you get some training experience."

"Maybe we can go to the past?" Hisako joked.

Serenity giggled. "No, that was the exception to the rule." She then realized something. "Wait, how do you..."

"Usagi already told us everything about that," Takamaru noted, "I would be skeptical about it all, if I didn't know there is a time tunnel out there."

Serenity frowned at that. ChibiUsa, or Usagi as the Youngers called her (which was, after all, her name,) had told them about her true origins? She would have to talk to that girl later on. "In any case, if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you may use these to communicate with each other, or with one of the Elders."

Elders was, Serenity knew, a term some of her friends didn't quite like. But if these five Senshi were the Younger Senshi, then Serenity and the others were the Elder Senshi. Though if these Senshi were going to live for a long time as well, then Serenity had guessed they would have to search for a better naming form, as there could be three generations of active Senshi around in the near (or distant,) future.

Hisako looked at the round object floating in front of her. There was one for each of them, matching their suits' colors, and they were palm-sized. "A communicator?"

"Yes, this way we can keep in touch."

"Hmph, wouldn't you just be able to know where we are?"

"I can only do that inside the city, and a few miles around the barrier. I know what you must have heard out there, but I'm no goddess, my powers do have a limit."

"It's just so high we can't really see it," Hikaru joked.

"Oh, that's quite correct," Serenity mused. "In any case, your families already know of your trip, you will be leaving three days from now."

* * *

"Will she be okay out there?"

Kage smiled. "Don't worry, she's as good with her luck and her melee skills as you are."

"Were," Chie corrected. "Really, I haven't quite used my powers in decades. Shouldn't we be training too, just in case anything happens?"

"Yeah, that's something to consider, now that we don't have to take care of a little girl anymore. Either that, or trying for a Sailor Sun next."

Chie chuckled. "I'll pass, at least for the time being."

* * *

The trip had been quite boring to him. Despite his element being water, he wasn't quite excited by the hours of staring at nothing but water as the plane flew over the pacific ocean. But now that he had arrived his destination, he knew fun would be starting soon. He had chosen South America as his first training area, as he had heard the place was packed full of evil, from drug lords to necromancers, and of course, the customary Lesser Senshi bullying the civilians.

With language being one of his favorite hobbies, he had an easy time finding a place to stay, and also getting a few leads on a small group of Lesser Senshi who had been using the city as their playground. So, he already knew what his first target would be.

He had a lot of terrain to cover, however. Rumors indicated the 'Galaxy Senshi' were hiding somewhere in the suburban area around the country's capital, but that was quite a vague pointer. He snorted as he thought about their name. Galaxy Senshi, such an ego-boosting name, he wondered what the idiots looked like.

It was on the fifth day in this country that he found them. They were in a small village called Shangrila. Maybe he would find the fountain of eternal youth here too? All joking aside, the village was near the ocean, which gave him one hell of a power advantage.

"Who are you, and why are you entering Galaxy's territory without permission?"

He looked at the girl standing in front of him. She was obviously in her late teens, and was wearing a blue suit which slightly resembled that of Sailor Mercury. That most likely meant she was a water Senshi. "I am here to put an end to your terrorizing of civilians," he announced, "as for who I am, you'll hear it on the news after I capture you all."

"Hmph, you're delusional, boy," the girl said, "there's no need to call Galaxy for this, Sailor Acuario will be enough. Tidal Wave!"

Takamaru let the attack hit and laughed. He hadn't bothered transforming, and it helped the shock this girl felt right now. "You call that a water attack? Let me show you how it's done... Thousand Jets!"

Acuario saw countless water drops appear around her and gasped. "What is this..." Before she could react, the drops all turned into jets of water which hit her from all sides. The water then solidified, effectively binding her. "Who are... You?"

Takamaru frowned and turned into his Senshi form. "Dragon Saturn, the son of Sailor Mercury. You're not that weak, girl, but if the others are like you, then I'm going to be very bored."

"Oh, nothing like that. Galaxy is far stronger than me. She will stop you."

Dragon Saturn walked away, laughing. He would come back later on after he had captured that Galaxy girl, and pick this one up. It was a pity he had to hold back against this woman, though, because his full powers would've killed her on the spot. Yes, it was a real pity, to have all that power and not use it correctly...

* * *

Minutes later, he found himself surrounded by pseudo-Senshi. Three girls and two guys, all too weak to be a challenge. "Hmph, I guess you're the rest of the Galaxy Senshi."

"You guessed right, intruder. We will not tolerate the likes of you here."

He looked at the woman who spoke. Her suit was black, as was her hair, but her hairstyle was... "Oh, cute, you've got Sailor Moon's hairdo. Too bad your power doesn't match hers."

"What the... Die! Galaxy Stream!"

"Fire Bomber!"

"Lightning Torrent!"

"Wind Reaper!"

"Sand Punch!"

Dragon Saturn chuckled. "Oh, wait, I was supposed to be hurt by those, right?" He had to admit, though, that Galaxy had almost surprised him. The little bitch was up to a Guardian Senshi's level, which was still not enough to hurt him.

He prepared to attack, but then flinched. He couldn't overdo it, or he would end killing these idiots. Then again, why hold back? This group had murdered many innocents since they had appeared. They deserved no mercy from him.

But the Queen told them not to kill any criminal unless it was completely unavoidable. _'Then again, where's the Queen? Still sitting in her pretty throne back home, while monsters like these kill for fun.'_ Yeah, he didn't need to hold back, he would make them feel what their victims felt.

A punch to the face took him out of his brooding. That Galaxy idiot had closed in while he was spacing out and took a cheap shot at him. Fortunately, the only thing he got from it was even more anger to fuel his power up. "Okay bitch, time's up for you. Soul Snatcher."

The other four Lesser Senshi heard their leader's scream as the Dragon clutched her arm with vise-like strength... Then they saw him pull a ghost-like figure from out of her body with his free hand, and their leader fell to the ground in a heap. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Soul Eraser." As Dragon Saturn said that, the ghastly figure (which had Galaxy's face) let out a high-pitched scream, then vanished. "Oh yeah, this is what I call power..."

"What the fuck..." The fire-shooting guy muttered, then charged at him. The other three followed his lead, not even aware that their leader was gone. "Die!"

"No, you die. Soul Snatcher!"

* * *

"Three days ago, a group of Lesser Senshi known as the Galaxy Senshi were found in an abandoned warehouse. They were all dead, even though no physical damage was detected in them."

The Queen was quite shocked. "What area was that in..."

"Southern South America," Ami said calmly, "the area where Takamaru was going to start his training." Serenity knew the face she was putting up now all too well. The calm and calculating appearance hid something else, and she could see Ami was quite angry.

"Ami, maybe we should call Takamaru back and ask him about..."

"I've tried that already, Rei. His communicator is offline."

"How can that be?"

"He's my son, after all," Ami noted, "and I figured out a way to disable the communicators decades ago. Never found an use to it, though, but... I guess Taka did."

Rei frowned. "Without the comm, we have no way to know where he is right now."

"But why did he do that, we told him there was no need to..."

"I'm going there myself," Ami said.

"Ami, don't act rashly."

Ami gave her a dry chuckle. "Usagi, I'm not. I need to know just how he killed them without... Heck, even his death magic would leave physical damage behind."

"That's quite a mystery, I agree," Rei admitted. "We should know how he does that, just to be on the safe side."

"Be careful out there, Ami," Serenity said.

"Don't worry about me," Ami noted, "I'll drag him back here even if I have to knock him out to do it."

* * *

It took Mercury two more days to get permission from the local authorities to check on the bodies. While she had to agree that there was no physical damage done to these mages, she had only needed a few seconds to scan them all and know what was missing. "There are no traces of a soul in any of them," she commented.

"Soul?" Serenity asked.

Mercury nodded at the image in her visor. "Years ago, Hotaru told me that she could sense traces of the soul of a person, even if they had been dead for a couple weeks. These corpses have no trace of a soul at all. If I were to make a theory about this, I would say that... Their souls were ripped right out of their bodies."

Not that such a thing was impossible, in fact the Senshi had faced enemies who had magic that could make 'fragments' of a person's soul come out of their bodies. And necromancers used the souls of the recently deceased as fuel for their spells. But she was quite aware of what it all meant to her.

"Serenity, as far as I can tell, Younger Dragon Saturn isn't in this country anymore. I want to..."

"We're already tracking him down, we've warned the other Younger Senshi about his strange behavior just in case," Serenity said, "we'll do everything we can to get him back to Crystal Tokyo."

"I want you to pass this message to the Younger then... If they can't just knock him out or somehow disable him, they should go for the kill."

Serenity was shocked at that. "But Ami..."

"If what I'm guessing is true, then he's lost himself to the darkness in him. We can take no risks, Serenity."

"I understand. What will you do now, Ami?"

"... He's my son, even if he's evil. I don't think I will be able to fight him, so I'm going back to the city now."

* * *

The Dragon was, actually, not in South America anymore. He knew it now, those weaklings from Crystal Tokyo wouldn't agree to his actions. That's why he had destroyed his communicator. Back before he became one of the 'Younger Senshi' his intention had been to be the strongest Senshi. And thanks to his last battle, he now had the means for that goal. He could probably not become stronger than Serenity without years of training, but he could, however, just kill her on the spot. But first, he had to eliminate all those around her.

And he had decided to start by those who stupidly called him their friend. England was the closest stop for him, and that's where he was right now, following Younger Venus' track. He finally found her, and was right now watching her fight from the shadows, keeping his power down to near zero to avoid being sensed by her.

"Blink Bolt!" A small ball of light shot from Younger Venus' hand, knocking her opponent down. The magician was out cold now, all she had to do was to bring him to the local authorities and then she would look for other criminals.

"Thanks," one of the other women in the room said as she saw their captor was down.

"You girls just get out of here, I'll take care of..." Venus felt a hand on her back, and felt the surge of power from whoever it was that was behind her now. However, she didn't have time to turn back to see who this newcomer was before he attacked.

"Soul Eraser."

* * *

Hisako was furious. The news of what had happened to her friend reached her faster than the rest of the Senshi, and while she still respected the Queen, what she was saying right now was something she would not agree with. "I'm very sorry, Serenity, but I won't do that. "

"Hisako, let the Elders take care of..."

"I said I won't already," Hisako snapped. Right now, she didn't care if this was the Queen she was speaking to. "I'm already in London, and I know where that asshole is hiding."

"Hisako, I'm ordering you to come back here right now."

"This time around, aunt Usagi, I can't leave things as they are."

"If you go, you'll get killed too!"

"From what the women who were there said, he took Hikaru off-guard. That won't happen with me."

Before the Queen could insist, Hisako put the comm away. She was already in her Senshi form, and about to rush in and hit the bastard with all she had. It wasn't just that he had killed Hikaru, but the way he had done it... From what she had heard, not even Saturn could revive Hikaru now, since her soul was gone... Maybe the bastard had her soul, however, and all she had to do was to punch him until he gave it back.

"My, my, Hisako, if you're planning to surprise me, don't go around flaring that much power freely."

Mars phased out of the way before the man could hit her. She looked at him and couldn't help but gasp. He was pale, extremely pale, and his eyes were pitch black. "What the heck..."

"It's the eyes, isn't it?" Dragon Saturn mused. "This is what power looks like, Hisako. Remember it well for the few seconds you're going to live."

Mars growled. He was too gone to be brought back now, but she didn't care. "You monster, I'm going to kill you!"

Dragon Saturn was almost knocked back by the burst of fire that followed. Mars' power had skyrocketed in a blink, he could feel the heat even from a distance. He had to get her before she could shoot at him, or he was fried, literally. "Soul Eraser!"

Mars saw a black beam shoot from the Dragon's hands and growled. "Die!"

The fire blast that shot from her body looked like a large firebird. It didn't cancel the Dragon's attack, but reflected it, and he was punched through the wall by the sheer force of the hit.

Mars walked to the fallen Dragon and sighed. "Looks dead enough to me..."

"Fuck, we're late."

Mars turned to see chibiMoon and Saturn standing there, looking at her. "Yes, you are." She fell to her knees and groaned. "Damn it, I overdid it..."

Saturn checked the Dragon and shook her head. "No soul... But how did..."

"He used that thing on me, called it Soul Eraser... But my own berserker attack knocked it right back at him."

"Shit, I don't know how Ami will take this..."

Hisako sighed. "I'll tell her myself. At least now Hikaru's death is..."

"Uhm, about that..." Saturn said, "we need you to come with us first. "

"Come where?" Mars said, then the three vanished.

* * *

She recognized the place where they were as soon as they appeared. However, there was someone else there, and she wondered for a second if her mind was playing tricks on her. "Hikaru?"

Younger Venus smiled. "Hisako..."

Mars hugged her friend and then looked at the other two. "But how... You said that..."

Saturn nodded. "That soul erasure isn't something I can fix. Even Serenity couldn't do it. If Dragon Saturn had managed to do it, then yes, Hikaru would have been gone forever."

Hisako made the connection quite fast. "So Pluto saved her?"

"Pluto sent Hikaru's soul out of its time a split second before the attack hit. That way, she only had to tell Serenity about it and get Hikaru's soul back where it belongs."

"But then... Was Serenity acting?"

"No, Serenity found out about this after you started fighting him. "

ChibiMoon knew what Saturn was saying was mostly the truth, but there was one thing they had to keep a secret. Hikaru was, from what Pluto told her, meant to die, as was Takamaru. But Saki had, for once, broken the rules, and had saved Hikaru. The end result was mostly the same, but they didn't know how Hikaru's presence would affect the timelines in the future.

Pluto wasn't heartless enough to correct the timelines, though, so instead she was giving her daughter an earful for her mistake.

Though seeing how happy Hisako was right now, ChibiMoon didn't really know if it had been a _mistake_ at all. "Now we'll send you both back to Crystal Tokyo," ChibiMoon said.

"Right. I still have to tell Ami about..."

"What happened?" Hikaru asked, noticing her friend's mood swing.

"I... I killed Takamaru," Hisako said, "I was too enraged to stop myself, but..."

"I can't blame you for that," Hikaru said. "Come on, let's go back home, I want to give mom the good news."

* * *

Hisako was lost for words now. Having to tell his parents what had happened was hard enough, but seeing Ami like this... "Ami, I..."

"Don't apologize," Ami said, wiping his tears off with her hands, "he was my son, yes, but... He was also evil."

"I don't think he was evil, just..."

"Evil isn't something you're born as," Terry noted. He looked pretty shocked about the news he had just received, too, but was trying his best not to let it get to him, "and he wasn't like other Senshi who went evil in the past. He wasn't taken over by evil, he _chose_ to be evil."

"But during all these years, while he trained with us, he..."

Ami shook her head. "We supposed he just wanted to be stronger, and we allowed him to do so, in hopes he would realize why he had been given those powers for. We were wrong, I suppose..."

"I can't not blame myself, though... Even if he hadn't shot that thing at me, my own attack would have killed him."

"But if that was the case, he could have been brought back," Ami said, "there was a time when I thought my best melee attack was frightening, but... Destroying souls like he did? I can't understand how he could even think up that kind of attack."

Terry sighed. "Hisako, don't blame yourself. Fighting evil is something we must do, and we are, despite what rumors might say, human. Yes, acting recklessly and without waiting for reinforcements was wrong, but I know I would have done the same thing."

Hisako sighed. "I'll have to live with my own mistake, then."

Ami nodded. "Don't let it control you. We're not blaming you for what happened, so don't blame yourself."

Hisako looked down. Mistake or not, there was no turning back now, but at least her friend was still alive. Hikaru was... That made her realize something else. "I must go now, I need to talk to someone else," she said before vanishing.

Ami looked at the spot where Hisako had been standing and smiled. "She's not going to let the matter drop."

"She's stubborn, like her mother," Terry admitted, then looked at Ami. "Are you really all right?"

"I'm not, I don't think I'll be okay for a long time. But... He was evil."

"No matter how many times you say that, I know you," Terry noted, "even if he was evil, heartless, even if he fooled us for years... I know you still can't hate him."

"Can you?"

"He was our son, Ami. I can't bring myself to hate him for what he did, but... I can see why others might do so."

"I'm going to visit Aiko," Ami said, "I'm sure she heard the news by now."

Terry smiled. Right now, and despite her origins, Aiko was the only child they still had. "I'll tag along, been a while since I saw her. "

* * *

As Hisako walked through the city, she was getting closer to figuring out what she was going to do. There were mistakes she could still fix, and she was going to fix one of them right away.

However, when she reached her destination, she froze. The words she had been repeating in her mind were just not there anymore. She stood there, staring at the house she had been about to enter, and realized she hadn't felt so nervous since... Heck, since never.

"Hisa?" And there she was. Hikaru had appeared near her, and was staring at her, curious as to what she was standing around for. "Is something wrong?"

Hisako smiled. Words weren't needed in this case, they both knew each other well enough to not need them in times like these. She simply walked to her friend, leaning forwards and kissing her before she could react.

Hikaru didn't look like she wasn't welcoming the kiss, however. "Hisa, why..."

"Didn't I tell you, back then, that I would give it some thought?" Hisako said. "I almost lost you, Hikaru, but the rage I felt wasn't just because of your death. Now I know, it was because I thought you were gone before I could tell you I do feel the same way you do."

Hikaru blushed at that, then giggled. "Took you long enough."

Hisako looked at the house again. "Think your parents will..."

"Mom will be happy, but dad might be chanting a few high level spells right now," Hikaru joked. "But enough talking." And with that, she kissed her friend again, a deep, long kiss.

A few blocks away from them, someone was watching the scene. "I was wondering when they would finally get together."

"A princess eavesdropping, such a shameful event..."

ChibiUsa turned to Hotaru and smiled. "I suppose it's time to tell them about what we're planning."

"You sure it's going to work?"

"I know how things were in the future, but I don't know how long it took. Are you still willing to..."

Hotaru frowned. "It sounds like fun, and it's not like I have anything to do around here anyway. But you think those two..."

"I'll tell Tsuki, too. We Younger Senshi need to act like a team."

"Hmph, I'm not a Younger."

"But you're the prettiest of the Elders," ChibiUsa teased.

Hotaru smiled at that. "So, going to tell them about it now?"

ChibiUsa looked back at the couple that was now walking back into the Diamond mansion. "No, we can wait. It looks like they're going to be busy for a while."

* * *

**A/N:** In case anyone's wondering, Saki's name comes from _Sakisaki_, literally "distant future." As for the country Takamaru was in, I know it well, because that's where I live. And yep, we do have a town/village called Shangrila here. No fountain of eternal youth, though.

What's ChibiUsa up to now? If I said it here, I wouldn't need to write next episode.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the one-episode-a-week updating I'm doing for this one isn't intentional. Work and games are getting in the way of my writing a lot more than usual lately.


	7. Silver revival

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 1: Crystal City.**

**Episode 7: Silver revival.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: December 18, 2008_

* * *

"There's a full Earth tonight."

Saturn looked up and chuckled. It was the first time she was there, at least in this lifetime. Also, at first it had been quite unsetting, but now she was used to breathing this dim tmosphere. In fact, the Senshi could survive even in deep space, where there was no atmosphere at all. "Hard to believe we're here, right?"

Younger Moon was, meanwhile, looking around. "This... We're standing right on it, the place where Silver Millenium was."

Saturn looked down, using her visor. "There's at least ten man-made underground structures around us."

"We need to search until we find what we're looking for."

"And what exactly are we looking for?"

"We will know when we find it."

"... For something you've been planning for years, it sure sounds like you have no idea what you're doing."

Moon nodded. "Yeah, well, all Ami could find about this was that the artifacts keeping the planets stable were called World Seeds, and that they run on mana. Only planet that didn't need one was the Earth itself, apparently."

"Then we only have to get the mana flowing again..."

"No, first I want to make sure those things are in working condition. Otherwise, all we would get would be a dead world with lots of mana flowing freely."

"Right. Let's go, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll be breathing fresh air again."

* * *

"Think those two will be okay up there?"

Hikaru looked up to the Moon and smiled. "As if there was anything out there that could threaten them."

Hisako nodded. "There may be something, though."

"It's just too weird, you know... The Moon has always been like that, ever since I was born... Heck, no history book ever tells of the Moon looking any different. To think there was a civilization there, as well as in all other planets, it looks quite impossible. "

"Someone summoning a sword made of pure light is also 'impossible,' you know?"

"Good point. But can you really imagine the Moon being all blue and green instead of the silver we're used to?"

"Now _that_ isn't something my mind's ready for, I'll tell you that much."

Hikaru smiled. One year had passed since her brush with death, and it had also been one year they had spent together. She had been almost resigned to have Hisako as nothing but a friend, but now she knew the wait was more than worth it. "Hope Usagi comes back soon, there isn't a lot to do around here anyway."

"If this works, I want to go to Mars," Hisako noted.

"Hmph, it looks quite lame to me, a planet of nothing but red sands and rocks."

"Says the one whose planet's an oven," Hisako joked.

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me," Hisako teased.

"Okay," Hikaru said and kissed her.

* * *

Moon scanned the room with her eyes and smiled. "What were you saying about fresh air?"

Saturn was as surprised as she was. The underground structure they were in right now had a stable atmosphere of its own, and was lit up by several small lamps around them. "It's almost as if they had wanted to keep a part of the Moon alive."

"And its got magical shielding, too," Moon said, "which makes no technological device able to detect this place."

There were signs on the walls, but they were written in characters that were alien to them. "Guess this is the ancient language, huh?" Saturn mused as she summoned her communicator. "Ami, are you there?"

"Yes, what's the matter?"

"We've found underground bases here, they're all working and have a breathable atmosphere, but we found some writings here that we can't..." Saturn stopped as she noticed Mercury was now standing right besides her. "Are you going out of the city without Rei's authorization?"

"She'll understand," Mercury said, "and even if she doesn't, it's not like I will care." She focused in reading the signs, using the power that had been quite useful to her many times in the past. "I see... We're now apparently in a training area. Past this door and to the left, there's the infirmary, and to the right, there's... " She stopped. "Hmm, a laboratory?"

"There's got to be a computer there," Saturn guessed.

"Yes, but it's offline," Mercury noted, "but I think I can bring it back to life with my own computer."

* * *

Serenity smiled at the little human crawling around the room. "Looks like little Anya is quite lively today."

"She's always like that," Naru admitted. "And Ami already checked her, there's darkness magic in her."

Serenity noticed her friend's worried look and sighed. "Naru, I'm sure what happened with Ami's son won't..."

"You can't be completely sure. Hell, you thought it was okay to train that..."

"That monster?" Serenity asked, guessing the word Naru hadn't said. "If you're that worried about Anya, then you need to make sure she will know the difference between good and evil, and help her choose the right path."

"Guess you're right."

"Only time will tell," Serenity said, "and I would be a lousy Queen if I let the same thing happen twice."

"I don't really think anyone could accuse you of that."

"You say that because you're my friend," Serenity noted.

"No, I mean it. I can hardly believe you're the same Usagi I met in kinder... The crybaby girl who loved to sleep and eat."

Serenity giggled. "I still love that, you know..."

"Some things never change, then."

"Where's Umino?"

"Oh, he's on a press conference about _that book_. Hope he gets it knocked off the shelves."

Serenity shrugged. "I already told him what I think of the book. I'm sure he'll follow my advice on this."

* * *

"What's Crystal Tokyo's opinion on this book?"

Umino scanned the room. He was quite used to this, to the press vultures looking for anything they could take out of context in order to raise their income selling lies. But he and the other two persons in the room weren't about to give them that. "It's a quite entertaining fantasy work."

"Fantasy? It says it's a hundred percent real facts."

Minako chuckled. "So, if I told you I can throw fire beams through my eyes and I'm twenty feet tall, and that's all real facts, you'd believe it?"

"You're denying it all, then."

"Actually, we aren't going to do a thing about that book," Umino said, "freedom of speech and thought, after all, is something we do respect."

"Despite us being evil brainwashing masterminds from hell," Minako noted, using a term the book in question had used to define them.

"So, in short, we are not going to ban this book from our city, we're not going to do a thing against it or its author."

"Nobody knows who the author really is," one of the reporters noted.

Minako laughed at that. "Some things in that book _are_ true. And one of them is, actually, the little bit about us Utopians having eyes and ears everywhere."

"Besides, she almost made a better job at retelling our lives than the Queen herself did in her writer days."

"Bottom line is, if people wants to believe what's on that book, then they will believe it. But I think the help other countries have received from us in the last thirty years should be all the proof we need to prove what's our real face."

"But what about the Death Dragon?"

Minako winced. That hit a nerve, really. Death Dragon was the nickname press had given to Ami's son, and it was something that was used once and again to try and tick them off. "What about him? He killed one of our Senshi, and one of our Senshi dealt with him. He also got rid of a group of pseudo-Senshi that were terrorizing a whole country. I don't really think you can find anything there to use against us."

"Wasn't he like that pink-haired woman, the one who apparently destroyed Tokyo?"

"Apparently?" Umino smiled. "Everyone must've seen the images taken by the satellites, that woman wasn't one of us."

"Wasn't she cloned from one of you?"

"That isn't a hundred percent accurate. Black Lady was a clone, yes, but the monster that created her purposefully made every negative aspect of our Princess be dominant in her."

"But we're straying off the subject of this meeting," Minako noted, "as far as this book goes, we're not going to take any action against it, and that's all you need to know."

* * *

Mercury smiled. "Okay, this computer's as good as new now... Let me see if I can find anything useful for our mission."

"It's _our_ mission, you're just butting in," Saturn teased.

"You're welcome," Mercury said with a grin. "Oh, now this is..."

The others saw Mercury walk to the door and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all, I've found what you're looking for. It's a few miles to the west, in a different underground base."

"Can we make it work again?" Moon asked.

"No 'we' there, only Moon herself could do that," Mercury noted, "I'll be going back to Earth now, if you don't mind."

As Mercury left, Saturn frowned. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Not quite, and that's why you're here," Moon said. "Let's just hope I'm just being paranoid."

After a few minutes of teleporting and walking, the two finally found their goal. "And this is called a World Seed because...?"

Moon had to agree with Saturn, it didn't look quite like a seed. It was a rather large, featureless machine, and its shape was like that of a pyramid. "Why would they build these things with a shape like that of the pyramids?"

"I think you've got that backwards, the pyramids were most likely base on this thing."

Moon nodded, her eyes not leaving the 'seed.' "I'll try to awaken it now."

"Good luck."

Moon closed her eyes and focused. She could feel the machine's latent magic, and it didn't take her more than a minute to find the way to make it work again. It was apparently something instictive for her, maybe it was the same for all the Moon Senshi.

"Chibi?"

Moon opened her eyes and blinked. The machine was now glowing white, and she could feel the mana flowing into it. However, it was feeding through her, not directly off the Moon itself. "Now I know it works, I only have to..." she looked around and smiled. "There."

Saturn pondered what she meant for a second, but then felt it. It was like a silent explosion of power, she could now feel the magic energy flowing all around them, and it was quite a contrast to the 'dead' planetoid the Moon had been minutes ago. "Amazing..."

"And tiresome," Moon said as she fell to her knees. "But we can't do this with the other planets, at least not on our own."

"I don't follow."

"Those World Seeds are set to only react to their world's Senshi. I could uncap the mana wells on all the other planets myself, but I won't be able to activate the Seeds."

"It just couldn't be too easy, or could it?" Saturn noted. "In any case, let's go back home."

"Yeah, I need to give the others the good news."

* * *

Serenity had noticed the change almost instantly. For someone of her level, it was quite strange to feel her own power rising like that. She looked up at the Moon and smiled. "She did it."

"I don't quite get how she could..." Endymion noticed. "The old Queen Serenity died after capping those wells, didn't she?"

"Takes a lot more energy to seal them than to unseal them," Serenity said. She knew that herself, she had done it when she built Crystal Tokyo. "But mother was... She had used a lot of power to send the youma into the Dark Kingdom, and also, she broke the Ginzuishou into pieces, something that also requires an incredible quantity of mana. "

"So, you think the change will be welcome?"

"I hope so, we're giving mankind another planet to live in. And if I know my daughter as well as I think I do, then she won't be happy with just the Moon."

* * *

There was only one city in the Moon, if it could even be called a city at all. Mankind's first space colonization project, a joint effort of many nations, which had taken an incredible sum of money to build. And inside said city, only a couple hours after the two Senshi had left the satellite, someone was staring out in awe and disbelief. "What is happening out there?"

A woman walked to the man staring out the window, not really bothering to stare at the ever-boring scenery herself. "Sir, we've received a message from Crystal Tokyo. Apparently, the Senshi found a way to reactivate the Moon's ecosystem. I don't know what they mean by that, but..."

"Jones, just take a look outside."

She did as told and gasped. The sky outside was... Like that of the Earth. Sure, the rocky ground of the Moon was unchanged, but the atmosphere was... "Mayor, what do you think that means?"

"I want some scans of the area outside our city," the mayor said, "if things outside are really as our eyes suggest, then we may be able to go take a walk outside."

* * *

Two months later, Ami was looking at some data in her computer, while Serenity and Usagi waited. "If magic wasn't involved here, I would use the word 'impossible,'" the scientist noted, "but as for right now, the Moon's surface is completely restored to its former status."

Usagi smiled. "I've been up there, I was asked to explain just how I had managed to do it. I don't really think they understood it, though."

Serenity looked up at the Moon. they were standing on top of the tallest tower of the Crystal Palace, and she could thus get an unobstructed look at the silvery disc. "It doesn't quite look like it changed at all."

Usagi nodded. "The native vegetation, which is starting to grow back all around the Moon, is composed mostly of white or silvery plants. I have never seen any of those species on Earth, either. Scientists up there in Selene City are happily studying and classifying them right now."

"What about wild life?"

"There's some nasty new bugs around too... And some other animals. I was really surprised to see they had already studied many of those. In fact, they served something called 'grilled Hursk' at dinner, and I took a chance to eat something new."

"Hursk?"

"It's the name of the scientist that first saw one. The creature's a big, crocodile-looking mammal, and it's not quite friendly, from what I heard."

"How did it taste?" Serenity asked. After all, one of her hobbies was trying new food from all around the world, and she was already thinking about taking a bite at all the new dishes the Moon would offer in a near future.

"It tasted like... A Hursk."

* * *

"So, this is what you've been keeping yourself busy with lately."

Terry turned to see Ami walk into the room. "Yes, it's just a prototype, but..."

Ami took a step back and smiled. "Terry, should I remind you what happened last time we tested a prototype?"

"Oh, but this isn't a teleporter... Check this." He reached his hand out, and a ghastly sword appeared in it. Seconds later, it turned solid.

Ami was looking at the sword and frowned. "A zero construct..."

"Yes, but... Computer, turn it into a glass of water."

Ami observed as the sword turned into a crystal glass, then gasped as Terry drank it. "Uhm, is that smart?"

"Nothing will happen," Terry said. "See, right now I'm only playing with zero, but I intend to have this device be able to create real water."

Ami reached her hand out, a bubble of water hovering over it. "You mean, like this?"

Terry nodded. "It'll be a challenge, even for us two."

"It'll keep us busy the next few hundred years, that's for sure," Ami mused. "However, I'm going to be away for a day or two."

"Hmm?"

"Usagi, and that is, the younger one, asked me to tag along on their trip to Mercury."

"Eeh... Can we even survive up there?"

"It would be fine for a couple hours, at least," Ami said, "so we'll just have to hurry and find the World Seed."

"World Seed sounds like such a dumb name..."

"Well, it was called something else in the language of Silver Millenium's era, and there were references to its first name, the name supposedly given by the creators of those artifacts. However, I suppose World Seed is a lot nicer to the ear than Si'jh'draug'hul. "

"That sounds like something I wouldn't like to find in a dark alley, " Terry joked.

* * *

Senshi had a major advantage when it came to interplanetary journeys. It only took them a split second to go from one planet to the next, and Mercury's computer had pinpointed areas of the planet where they could teleport to safely.

Still, Moon realized Ami's warning had been correct, the heat was incredible. A normal human here would have possibly died in a matter of seconds, even with a space suit. Not counting the lack of oxygen or air pressure, that was.

"Now explain me this, how come the Senshi of _Ice_ came from a planet like this?"

"This planet was colder than the Earth back in the ancient era," Mercury explained, "you'll see that once we reactivate its Seed."

"So, where to?"

"Thirty kilometers to the west," Mercury said, "Follow my lead."

The three vanished, reappearing inside a familiar room. "Looks like the Moon's underground bases," Saturn commented.

"Not surprising," Mercury said. "Hmm, so this is the Si..." she caught herself and switched to Japanese. "... Seed."

Moon nodded and looked around. "I'm done here, it's your turn."

Mercury could feel her energy raising. "This is quite an amazing thing."

Saturn smiled. "Yeah, we can be even stronger than we thought."

Mercury looked at the pyramid and nodded. "Okay, then... Done."

"Shouldn't this thing have a security system of some sort, though... What if someone broke it?"

Mercury gave her a grin then aimed her hand at it. "Endless Winter!"

Saturn choked a gasp as she saw the pyramid was unaffected by the blast. "What the fuck..."

"If the word 'indestructible' could really be used to describe anything, these Seeds would be the most fitting targets."

The three teleported outside again, and noticed the change around them. "Hmm... Getting cooler, aren't we?"

Mercury smiled as an image from the distant past crossed her mind. "Then just wait for a week or so, and you'll see why."

* * *

And so they did. One week after their first trip to Mercury, the three were once again standing on the planet. Actually, standing wasn't the right term, as everything around them was covered by water, a large, single sea covered the 'Sun side' of Mercury, while the darker side was completely covered by ice.

"This is insane," Saturn said, "the temperature outside the atmosphere is still as high as it was before."

"Yes, but this is what the planet looked like before," Mercury commented. "Mana shielding doesn't let most of the temperature get through, it reflects even the solar winds, and also..." she took a look around and smiled, "... it keeps the outer face of Mercury as cold as the Earth's poles."

"I give up trying to make sense out of magic," Saturn muttered.

"You're quite stubborn, then," Moon joked. "I stopped that decades ago."

"Can it, Chibi," Saturn muttered. "So, what do you think Earth's scientist will say about this one?"

Moon smiled. "Three words, 'what the fuck?'"

Mercury laughed. "That's what Terry said, actually."

* * *

Haruka looked at the newspaper and smiled. "Guess the Princess is doing a good job out there."

"Think we'll get our planets 'fixed' as well?"

"No, I don't think so... They're too close to Nemesis, and we don't want to risk giving the Dark Moon something to worry about."

Michiru looked out the window and decided to change the topic. "There are no challenges out there anymore, are there?"

"Nothing the Younger can't solve," Haruka agreed. "Maybe it's time we go back to Tokyo and settle down."

"That'll be quite a shock for them, I'm sure."

* * *

"So which one will be next?"

"I'm trying to decide," Usagi said. "Venus looks like a far bigger challenge."

"Average temperature inside the atmosphere of nearly five hundred degrees, and the air pressure there is also quite high, not to mention the atmosphere's filled with poisonous elements," Ami explained.

"Save us the lecture," Hotaru said, "you think we will survive there?"

"At most half an hour," Ami noted, "so we can't go sightseeing."

Hikaru flinched. "And I have to go there, right?"

"Don't worry, if anything bad happens, we'll get out of there in a second."

"I'll go, too," Hisako said.

"There's no need to..."

"Usagi, I'm not asking for your permission."

"Hmph, do as you like."

Ami looked at Usagi, then at Hisako, and smiled. "You two almost look like the Elder Mars and Moon back when we were teens..."

"Not my fault she's so stubborn," Usagi muttered.

"Can it, _Rabbit_."

Hotaru summoned her glaive and glared at the two. "You both chill or I'll have to use this."

"We were just joking," Hisako said.

Usagi smiled. "I'm not afraid of that glaive."

"You sure? You know I've actually stabbed you with it a couple times in the past."

"Yeah, and you stab like a girl."

"I am one."

"They look cute when they bitch at one another," Hikaru noted.

Ami chuckled. "The princess and her knight in a shiny armor."

"Shiny?" Hotaru muttered. "I'd rather have a black one." She noticed Usagi staring at her and smiled. "What?"

"Trying to imagine you in a suit of armor..."

"Hmph, our Senshi suits are able to withstand a nuke's blast. I don't think any armor can beat that."

"Okay, in any case, I've decided. We'll go to Mars, then to Venus."

"What about Lilith?"

Ami looked at Hotaru. "I hadn't thought about that one, but..."

"You think there's a World Seed there?"

"It's probably attached to one of the million shards of the planet."

Usagi was now staring at Ami. "No way... You mean not even a planet's explosion can..."

"If what I read on those artifacts is correct, then yes. There's supposedly one inside the Sun itself."

"Hah, hope we don't have to reactivate that one."

"Oh, don't worry," Mercury said, "that one wasn't affected by Serenity's magic."

"Good, because we'd be literally fried if we..."

"In theory, a Senshi would be able to last for one minute on the Sun before the combination of gravity, heat and mana overload killed them."

"That's a theory I'm not bothering to test," Hotaru noted.

* * *

Mars looked around and smiled. "The red planet, no kidding."

"Compared to our last trip, the weather here is quite good," Saturn commented.

"Wonder how it will look once its Seed is working?" Mercury pondered.

"What, you don't know?"

"Never been to Mars, even in my previous life."

"So anyhow, where to?"

"Maybe we can have a picnic once we're done."

"Can you think about nothing but food, Hikaru?"

Venus looked at Mars. "Of course I can, but food's the only thing we can do in public."

"Love's in the air. No matter it's unbreathable."

Moon laughed. "Oh come on, Hotaru. It's not like we're not the same way ourselves."

"Good point."

"If you're done with the idle chatter," Mercury noted, "I've located this world's Seed."

"Good, let's go," Mars said.

Again, the group appeared in a familiar room. The large pyramid-like artifact was resting there, waiting for its Senshi to come back, and the wait was over now.

"Anytime you want, Hisa," Moon said. She was used to this now, and knew she would have no trouble uncapping the mana from all planets. However, she could only do it from the planet itself, and that was something that really bothered her. Was the old Queen Serenity so strong she could have capped them all, from the Moon, and after depleting most of her energy?

She realized that was a question she would most likely not find an answer to.

Mars looked at the artifact and smiled. "Gotcha." After a few seconds, she chuckled. "It's done, so how long will it take for the change?"

"I think it depends on the planet. Took only a few hours for the Moon, but a week for Mercury."

"Oh. I still want to come back here and see how it looks after the change."

"You will, I'm not just happy to fix these planets, I want to see how they all look."

"Remember, we can't do that with the outer worlds yet, the risks would be too high."

Moon nodded at Mercury. "I know, so there's only one more to go. How about doing it now?"

Saturn looked at Moon worriedly. "But you just used your power in this world, isn't that dangerous?"

"I know my own limits," Moon said, "and I want to see how that rock looks under the clouds."

Venus smiled. "I can't wait to be there."

* * *

Minutes later, they were all staring at the landscape of Venus. "The volcanic activity's quite interesting here."

"Let's sightsee later, Ami," Moon said. She could feel her body protesting the atmosphere already.

Mercury nodded. "Yes, in this environment, we can only last for half an hour, at most. The Seed's close, but there's a forcefield around it."

"A forcefield? But why would there be..."

"I also detect several living beings down there," Mercury noted.

"Yes, I can feel them," Saturn noted.

"Let's go ask them, then," Venus said.

They appeared inside a rocky tunnel, quite a change from the even, metallic corridors of the bases they had been to in other planets. "This may be man-made, but its roughly finished," Mercury commented.

"Incoming," Saturn noted.

A group of women rushed in, clad in golden armors and wielding golden whips, and they all looked quite unfriendly at first, until they realized who the intruders were. _"You are... After eons of waiting, the day has finally arrived!"_

Moon frowned. "What are they saying?"

"Let me ask them a few more things," Mercury said, then started talking to the women in their language. After a minute of this, she smiled. "They're survivors from the ancient Venusians. They've lived in the underground for thousands of years, digging up tunnels to expand their territory when they needed to, and waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Venus asked.

"For your mother, apparently," Mercury noted, "but you're a Venus Senshi too."

"Is there a way for us to speak to them directly?" Moon asked.

Mercury summoned a small, square artifact. "There we go."

"What is that, oh mighty Ice Senshi?"

Moon stared at the gold-clad woman. They could understand them now? "Oh, I get it, a translation device."

"Yes, that's what it is," Mercury said. "Shila, you must know why we're here, so we need to get to the Seed now."

The woman nodded. "It's what we've been waiting for, for a Venus Senshi to return and lead us back to the surface."

"It won't happen overnight," Moon warned, "it may take months until the planet's surface can support life again."

"We have waited for thousands of years," Shila admitted, "waiting for a bit more won't be hard."

"Hmm, why are you using whips?" Mars asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought warriors would go for swords, spears or..."

"The whip was Sailor Venus' legendary weapon."

"Makes sense," Venus said, "mom's main weapon was a whip, sort of."

The woman smiled. "Come now, we'll take you to the Seed."

* * *

Usagi looked up to the sky. The Moon, once a deserted wasteland, now had five cities on it, and a bit over twenty million humans lived in them. She thought about the other planets too. Five years had passed since they activated the last of the 'inner' planets, and both Mars and Mercury had colonies in them. Venus itself, well, had its own humans, millions of them, so Serenity had decided to leave that planet to them.

"Future's looking bright, isn't it?"

Hotaru smiled. "Yes, it is. Even though the far future will be, if things stay as they should, rough for us."

"As long as you're by my side, I don't care about what the future may bring."

Hotaru blushed, but the chuckled. "So, how does it feel to be seventy?"

"You tell me," Usagi mused. "It's quite amusing, though, to hear the theories civilians have about us. Even some of those here in Crystal Tokyo..."

"Yes, some say we're not the same Senshi who were fighting back in the twentieth century, but their children."

"Truth in my case, somehow," Usagi noted, "but it's still amusing how they won't believe the truth."

"Let them be," Hotaru said, "I can understand their point of view, there's all these legends about immortal beings in literature, but actually knowing they are around and they're watching, I guess mankind isn't still ready for that."

Usagi wasn't quite ready to settle down, but she didn't really know if anything major would happen in the few centuries left until the arrival of the Nemesians. However, she was ready to spend those centuries with the one she loved, and with her friends, both old and new.

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, ChibiUsa's being called 'Usagi' now, and got the Chibi dropped out of her Senshi name as well. All things considered, she's around her sixties right now, so "Chibi" just doesn't fit her anymore. That won't stop Hotaru from using that as a nickname.

About Naru's daughter... Even though "Anya" may sound like a name from another language, it does mean "dark night" in Japanese... Same is the case with, for example, Hana.

If the last lines of this episode sound like an arc's ending, well... It may be because they are.


	8. Black Moon rising

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 2: War Games.**

**Episode 1: Black Moon Rising.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: December 26, 2008_

* * *

She had, through her life, been in countless situations that normal humans would consider strange. Impossible, even. But what she was looking at right now defied each and every law of the Universe scientists had come with in the past, and even though she knew this day would eventually come, it was still quite a shock for her.

Ten days ago, in June thirty of the year two thousands, nine hundred seventy-eight, she had been born. And at the same time, she was also a thousand years old now. But all that was nothing, compared to the little human she was looking at right now.

"She's... Me."

Serenity smiled. Princess Serenity, or as everyone knew her nowadays, Neo Moon, was quite visibly shocked. It was a bit strange, even for the Queen, to be holding the days-old ChibiUsa in her arms, while the centuries-old ChibiUsa looked at her. "Indeed, want to hold her?"

"I wonder if I can do that."

The Queen gave a soft giggle. "I asked Pluto about it, there's no risk involved in this, the only thing we have to be careful of, is of not having your paths cross a few years from now."

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that," Usagi said as she took the small girl in her arms. "I was cute back then, huh?"

Serenity frowned. "You're talking about the present as past."

Usagi sighed. "Hard not to do it. This era is the past for me."

"Are you okay with what you had to do?"

Usagi nodded. "Princess Serenity is gone, at least for now, but I can still fight as Neo Moon."

Serenity blinked. She still wasn't used to this, but for the rest of the world, her daughter had died a couple centuries ago, fighting Saturn, who had turned against her. Of course it was all faked, but watching the battle used as proof of her death, she could hardly think Usagi and Hotaru weren't fighting for real. They were either very good actresses, or had used that battle as stress relief.

"Oh, by the way, how's Hotaru?"

Usagi smiled. "She's doing fine, had to take care of something in Mars but should be here soon."

Just as she said that, a figure appeared in the room. Serenity almost confused her with someone else, since she looked quite different. "Hotaru, what's with your hair?"

Hotaru smiled and looked down at the black hair that now almost brushed the ground. "I thought that since I would have to get a new identity, I could try something new for my looks too."

"You look quite intimidating now."

Hotaru nodded. "I've been told that, too." She looked at the baby and grinned. "Hey, I'm quite lucky, other people only get to see pictures of their lovers as babies."

Usagi smiled as she thought about it. "This almost..."

"Almost what?" Hotaru asked.

Usagi flinched. "Nevermind."

"Almost makes you wish you could have one of your own," Serenity guessed.

Usagi nodded slowly. "Yes."

Hotaru looked at the baby again. "Funny, magic can turn an overheated rock into a glacial world, yet..."

Usagi smiled. "Yet we never tried what we _know_ is impossible. "

"Or we _assumed_ it was impossible," Serenity said.

"You know something we don't?" Hotaru asked.

"Many things, but this one, I can't tell you about," Serenity said. There was no malice in her voice, so the others understood it meant they would have to figure out what she meant on their own.

"So, how long should it be until we get 'unexpected' visitors?"

Usagi frowned. "I was four by the time they arrived. I remember how scary their spaceships looked to me back then, too... But we can't let them know we knew they were coming."

Serenity nodded. "The old me would have been against the idea. We are going to let thousands of civilians die..."

"It's either that or, if the paradox theory is correct, we could have our reality vanish completely."

Hotaru sighed. "We'll save as many as we can ourselves. We have to let them destroy Crystal Tokyo, yes, but I don't think we ever heard anything about the rest of the world being as wrecked as this."

"Of course not. The Neo Senshi were rumored to take down entire enemy fleets in minutes, the Nemesians feared them and called them 'Azakhat,' which in their language is basically the same as the origin of our name, Senshi."

"Assassins," Serenity said. She had heard the story from Ami once, about the ones that had been supposed to be the First Senshi back in the past. The situation back then had been very different, and they had thus been a lot more murderous than the present era's Senshi could ever be.

The Princess knew the look her mother was giving her, and shrugged. "If that's what it takes to save this world, I'm ready to make a few heads roll."

"Me too, but I fear my role in this war will be quite different," Serenity said, "so I have to trust you and your group to save the world."

"What about the other Senshi?"

"I know they're making their own plans. Maybe you should speak to them and see if you can all team up."

"That would be a good idea," Hotaru admitted. "But let's worry about that later. For now, I want to enjoy the few years of peace we have left."

Usagi looked at Hotaru, and for a second remembered the other event she knew about, and what it would mean. No, there had to be a way to change that without destroying their reality... There had to be a way out, there always was.

But what exactly was it? She couldn't tell, but she hoped she would get the answer before that day, before that sad day that was both in her distant past and fifteen years into the future.

* * *

And four years passed like a flash for the Queen and her friends. Now that she sat on her throne, listening to Prince Dimando's speech of friendship and mutual benefit for both the Earth and Nemesis, she knew the time had finally come.

The news of spaceships passing near Mars were quite a shock to everyone on Earth and the neighbouring planets, but not for the Senshi. They had been waiting for these aliens. For these aliens they knew would be causing a lot of pain and suffering to the world. These... Monsters? No, Serenity couldn't think of them that way. These Nemesians were being misled by a great evil, and while the actions of Dimando and her group qualified them as evil, their final sacrifice was enough for her to forgive them. Yes, they would cause great pain to the world, and yes, her own daughter would be forced to go back to a time and place strange for her, but she knew the Nemesians would do the right thing in the very end.

This man, Dimando, was one of her most dreaded enemies, but at the same time, his final sacrifice was something she could respect. But her mind now forced her back to the present, as Dimando was apparently finishing his speech.

"... And I hope that, with time, our two worlds may come to become as one, united in harmony."

"That is also our hope, Prince Dimando," Serenity said, "we will make sure the rest of our people gives you their friendship and respect too."

* * *

Usagi was, also, looking at the scene, but from a different place. A place the Nemesians knew not of, at least for the time being. "That bastard's here..."

"I know quite well what you feel, Princess."

"If I wasn't so damn aware of the risk, I would go shut his mouth up right now." Usagi looked at Pluto. "Setsuna, I need to ask you something."

"And I will answer, if I can."

"Good enough for me. Listen, about what's going to happen a decade from now, just how can... Am I going to have to live on while everyone dies there? Isn't there a way to save everyone?"

Pluto looked away. "I... I can't answer that. I wish I could, but I can't."

"So, if there even is a way, I will have to find it on my own."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Usagi sighed. "You don't have to explain yourself. I understand, I've lived for long enough to know sometimes you have to do things you hate, for the sake of everyone..."

"Like that fight you had with Hotaru."

Usagi chuckled. "That, actually, wasn't hard."

Pluto smiled. "But you two, I'm sure you weren't faking it."

"But we knew our limits, and we trusted each other."

Pluto summoned a 'window' near them, one that showed the past, two hundred years ago. The day when Princess Serenity and Elder Saturn 'died.' The Princess had to agree, that looking at their fight from the outside, it seemed like the two were really out to kill each other.

They had chosen Mars as their battleground, and the fight had lasted for about half an hour. Of course, neither of them had used their forbidden techniques, as that would have been bad for the planet. But still, the power they were throwing at each other was quite amazing.

"And here comes the dramatic ending," Pluto said.

The Princess nodded. Those last moments were worth of an action film, the stand-off between the heroine and the villain, and the last, desperate attack from both.

To a normal human, or even to a trained mage, the scene would have been the two shooting their strongest attacks at each other, then an explosion, and when the light dimmed, both of them were lying on the ground, bleeding and looking very dead.

To those who knew what had happened, what had actually happened was quite different. Pluto (both of them) had taken the two fighters into the time tunnel a split second before the attacks hit, and replaced them with exact replicas made of Zero, courtesy of Zephyr Interspace. However, only two persons within the company knew about it.

They both had trusted each other completely. They had to, in order to survive that battle. If they had been holding back, it would have been obvious to anyone trained in combat. No, they had to trust each other, to be sure that, no matter what they used, they would either dodge or minimize the damage somehow. That battle was, honestly, the biggest lie she had ever told.

"One year and a half left, have you all prepared for this?"

"When they come, they will find a welcome party they will not forget. "

* * *

Hotaru was looking out at the city. It had changed in the last centuries, now the height of the buildings was taller the closer one got to the center of the city, but none coming near to the towering main spires of the Crystal Palace. It was a sight she never tired of, she liked the city, even if she found it a bit too calm for her liking.

"Aunt Hotaru, what are you doing here?"

She looked back to see the small, pink-haired girl looking curiously at her. "Nothing much, Princess, just taking a look at the city." The Princess tried to look out at the city too, but the opaque crystal walls of the balcony they were in were half a meter too tall for her. Hotaru giggled at the scene, then picked the girl up, letting her stare out at the city. "Your mom is the Queen of all you see around us."

"I know that. I like how it looks."

Hotaru smiled. "Good, because you'll be staying here for a long time. "

"That sounds boring, I want to see what's outside the city, too."

Hotaru smiled. "I'm sure that you will, someday."

"Now, Hotaru, don't turn her into a rebel."

Hotaru turned to see Serenity standing there, smiling at her. "You really shouldn't let her roam around the palace like that."

"Why not? I always know where she is."

"I still have to worry, you know..."

Serenity nodded. "Of course. Say, are things ready on your side?"

"Quite. We will keep things interesting while your group takes a nap. "

The Princess paid no attention to the two women speaking. She didn't quite get what they talked about most of the time, anyhow. She kept looking out at the city for a while. This city, Crystal Tokyo, the place where the legendary Sailor Moon was born. She hoped she could meet Sailor Moon, someday.

* * *

"Dimando, our plans are progressing smoothly. Diplomatic relationships with the terrans are at their peak."

"Good, it is time we begin the second phase of our conquest. Use any means to learn how to neutralize the magic shield around Crystal Tokyo."

"As you order, Prince."

A figure observed the scene from the shadows, and as Esmeraude vanished, he knew things would go as planned. He already knew how to get rid of that shield, but he also had to let this naive Prince find out on his own, the bigger his ego, the easier to manipulate he would be.

"Wiseman!"

But now, apparently, was time to play his role in this charade, the role of a faithful advisor to the Black Moon Clan, the rulers of his homeworld, Nemesis. "You summoned me, Prince Dimando?" It was a charade he had to take a part on, if he wanted to reach his own goal. He knew sooner or later he would have to get rid of this white-haired fleshling, but he had already thought of a few alternative ways to get what he wanted from Earth.

* * *

"Crescent Scythe!"

Lilith stared at the incoming crescent-shaped white wave with a smile. "That's not going to work."

Venus saw the blast curve up before hitting Lilith, then turn around and head her way. She let out a curse and leapt out of the way. "I'm too old for this..."

"Biologically speaking, we're still in our twenties."

"But I suppose they're ready now."

"Just be careful with the big blasts, Hikaru. I don't want to have to switch bases again."

"I know that, Usagi."

"Does this place even have a name?"

Saturn nodded at Tsuki. "Asteroid B-57386."

"That's too long," Tsuki noted.

"Well, we are in Lilith," Moon said, "too bad I couldn't find the Seed here."

"Not easy to find, even if it was still out there," Saturn said. "We've been searching for years and still have eighty percent of the asteroid belt to explore."

"Shouldn't you be training too?" Hisako asked.

"We've trained a lot, too," Moon said. "But we're up to the point where we can't get stronger. We just need to train in order to not grow weaker."

"What about the Elder? Will they be up to the challenge?"

"You never saw them fight," Moon mused. "Even if they only slacked off the last thousand years, their bodies will remember their training soon enough. And some of them, I'm sure, weren't slacking off."

"I'm still not agreeing with all this."

"Tsuki, don't you believe what I said?"

"I do," Tsuki said, "it's just that... Countless innocents will die, when we could just stop it all before it started."

Moon frowned. "You think I'm not aware of that? You think I'm happy about it? But the thing is, if we stop them before they start, if we stop them from going back to the past, if we stop anything that's meant to happen, then we'll trade a few lives for the whole Universe. "

"It's just a theory," Tsuki noted.

"Let me tell you what could happen, then," Moon said, "you probably never heard about this, but Setsuna's been to a few other universes, checking things in case some strong enemy had the same kind of powers as her. She's found many realities where everything went as planned up to one point, but then things changed for some reason, and... Out of all those universes, only five had a somewhat 'happy' outcome."

"That's a new one, even for me," Saturn admitted.

"Thing is... You may have heard about what we call the Dark World. The one world where every Senshi but Mars and Mercury died, and which we helped 'fixing' by defeating the youma. By Pluto's words, that is the _best_ 'happy ending' she's seen besides ours."

"But..."

"I know you're the Lucky Senshi," Moon said, "but even if I had your powers, I wouldn't dare betting the Universe on this 'theory' being wrong."

"I... I understand."

"Moreso, let this be a friendly warning: If any of you tries to change what's going to happen, I'm going to stop them personally."

"May I ask you something?"

Moon looked at Hikaru. "Go ahead."

"What about what's going to happen in a decade?"

"What about that?" Moon muttered.

"Won't you be tempted to change that?"

Moon looked down. "I've thought about that, yes, and I already thought of a way to prevent even me from doing that."

"And that is..."

"That is something I will only discuss with my mother," Moon said.

* * *

"I want to be just like Sailor Moon when I grow up."

"And you will. You've got your mother's spirit, Small Lady."

ChibiUsa looked up at Pluto. The stoic, serious Pluto, whom nobody had seen much in the last thousand years. Pluto was the Princess' best friend, but mostly because the Princess hadn't been outside the Palace enough to meet anyone else she could get along with.

"Was mom as strong as she told me?"

Pluto smiled. "Stronger, even. She saved this world, many times."

A figure appeared near them, and the Princess recognized her in a second. "Aunt Ami?"

Mercury smiled. "Pluto, we're heading for a meeting with the Nemesians. If everything goes well, then the future will be safe."

"And so will the past," Pluto said. "Go ahead, I will be there when the time's right."

* * *

"You think this is it?"

Endymion sighed. "Our little girl is six now, so I suppose this could be the day it all goes wrong."

"Or right, depending on how you look at it."

Endymion looked at Serenity. Even though she knew what would happen, even though she knew she would be thrown into a dormant state while her daughter (both versions of her) risked her life in the war against the Nemesians, she looked so calm, so sure of what she had to do. But it wasn't just the surface, he had lived by her side long enough to know she wasn't just putting up a facade.

"Are the others ready?"

"Yes, they're waiting for us."

* * *

"So it begins," Saturn said.

Moon nodded. "It has to be today, I remember it all clearly... Well, what I saw, anyhow. I know how my younger self will feel in a few minutes, and trust me, it's hard not to go there and stop it all from happening."

Lilith groaned. "Don't you go weak on us now."

"Am not," Moon said, "but just in case... If I try anything myself, I want you all to stop me."

"Can we..."

"Leave her to me," Saturn said, "it won't be the first time I have to stab her through to stop her from doing something stupid."

"Love is in the air," Mars joked.

* * *

Two years of pretending to be a peaceful ruler with no ambitions, two years of sucking up to this self-appointed Queen, two years he had spent planning just how to get rid of Crystal Tokyo. The rest of the human armies, he knew he could defeat in days, weeks at most. But the Senshi, they had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

And thus, Dimando was following Wiseman's advice. Wiseman had pointed out to the Ginzuishou being the main weapon of the Senshi, and also the power source of the barrier around the city. If they got rid of the Queen, then the crystal would lose its power.

There was the question of the Princess, but Wiseman said she was still too young to use the crystal's power. In any case, she would have to be eliminated as well, just to be sure. Yes, their plan couldn't fail, wouldn't fail. The Senshi didn't have a clue on what was happening.

To the enemy, this would be just another boring diplomatic meeting. To the Black Moon Family, this would be a turning point, and the beginning of their conquest of this planet. The building they were in right now would be their grave.

"They have arrived," a voice announced from the shadows. Wiseman could be quite an unsetting individual sometimes, but he had helped him getting this far. He was thankful for that, but sometimes he couldn't help but wonder just _why_ he was helping them. Nothing was known of this man before the day he showed up at his palace and convinced him to unify all of Nemesis under his flag.

And here they were, the rulers of Crystal Tokyo, all here as planned, all here to die. "Queen Serenity, I am glad you accepted our request."

"I see no harm in talking," Serenity said, "but I've brought my guardians with me, just in case."

"I admit I thought the same way," Dimando said.

Wiseman was watching the scene from the shadows, and was quite content with what he saw. The stupid Queen had not brought the Ginzuishou along, which meant she was weak and vulnerable. "Dimando, it is time for the meeting to begin."

Serenity saw the robed creature walk out of the shadows. It was just as she remembered it, except for one thing. Its power was incredibly high, there was no way this monster was the same she had defeated a thousand years ago. "Who is he?"

"This is the Wiseman, my most faithful servant, and the one who gave the idea of meeting you in neutral grounds to me."

Faithful servant? Endymion found it rather hard not to laugh at this man's naivety. But it was time to drop the bomb. "Don't think we aren't aware of your plans."

"I know not what you're talking about," Dimando lied.

Serenity smiled. "As much as you have been spying on us, learning our secrets and weaknesses, so have we. We know all about your invasion plans, Dimando, and we will not let you start a war that will cause thousands of deaths on both sides."

"That, dear Serenity, isn't your decision anymore," the Wiseman snapped and shot a black beam at Serenity. Serenity rose a shield to block it, so the Wiseman gasped. "You can't be this strong!"

"I suppose you never saw a Senshi before, then," Serenity noted.

The Ayakashi all shot at the Queen, but the four Senshi stood in front of her, taking the hits. "Impossible!" Petz exclaimed.

"Nothing is impossible for us Senshi," Mars noted.

"I beg to differ," Dimando snapped, and shot his own beam at Serenity. The combined power of Dimando and the Wiseman broke through the shield, but Endymion leapt on the way and took the hit instead of the Queen.

"Endymion!"

Wiseman chuckled. "It seems defeating us is impossible."

"Monster!" Serenity reached out her hand and shot a wide beam, hitting Wiseman and sending him sailing back.

Dimando reacted fast, acting before any of the Senshi could stop him. He appeared right behind Serenity, shooting a beam at point blank range, then vanished just as the Senshi all shot at him.

Mars saw Serenity fall and grimaced. "Damn it..."

"Everything went as expected. Even if you had planned for this, it all happened too fast for you to react."

Mars looked at Pluto, who had just appeared. "Setsuna, what..."

"I'll take care of them, you take them back to safety." As the Senshi rushed out of the building, she turned to the Nemesians. "You won't leave this place until I want you to."

Wiseman staggered up and looked at the newcomer. "Sailor Pluto, I presume."

"You know your facts, monster."

Dimando growled at the others. "What are you waiting for? The Senshi are escaping!"

"No, they have already left," Wiseman noted, "they teleported back inside their pretty shield."

"And in there, they will be..." Pluto turned back and gasped. "The crystal..."

Wiseman laughed. "Its energy is gone, I can feel that. What is it that happened, time witch? It doesn't matter, without that crystal, you're defenseless."

"You underestimate us Senshi," Pluto snapped.

"Dark Thunder!"

"Dark Whip!"

"Dark Fire!"

"Dark Ice!"

Dimando saw Pluto vanish as the attacks hit and snorted. "That was too easy."

"She could still be alive," Wiseman noted, "but we must not worry about that now. The shield is down, we can destroy their palace."

"That's right. Rubeus!"

Rubeus nodded and summoned a strange, triangle-shaped communicator. "Send in our fourth squadron, let's destroy their glass city."

* * *

The Princess had been waiting for her mother to come back, looking out the window of her room. She smiled as she saw several figures appear in the palace's gardens, but her smile vanished soon. Both her parents were unconscious, and she feared the worst. No, they were still alive, she somehow knew that, but... They were hurt, she had to help them, but how?

The crystal, her mother said that crystal could grant your wishes if you knew how to ask. She had to try, to help her parents.

To anyone not used to the Crystal Palace's corridors, they could all seem the same. But she had been walking through these corridors her whole life, she knew her way around this place better than anyone, even some of the Senshi. So she knew exactly where she was heading, and how to get there.

The two guards standing in front of the large door gave a respectful bow as they saw her approach. She was a kid, true, but she was also the Princess, and they knew she could one day be the one sitting in the throne. If they hadn't bowed, though, the girl wouldn't have noticed. She was too focused in what she had to do, and simply nodded at the two men as they opened the door for her.

There it was, inside the shield room, as she had heard it be called in the past. The small crystal floated a mere centimeter away from the metal pillar it rested on. She had seen it before, and it was always like that. But it was shining brighter, as if it felt its owner was in danger.

The Princess hesitated for a second. What if it didn't work? She recalled the stories her mother told her time and again, of the time when she was Sailor Moon. And if there was anything she had learnt from them, is that not trying was much worse than failing.

So, she reached out and grabbed the crystal. Before she could say or think anything, however, the crystal started shining brighter than before, then vanished. "What?"

"Small Lady, don't fear."

"But the crystal... I wanted to help mom, but now it's gone!"

"Calm down, there's still a chance for you to save them. You have to go back to the past and search for the Ginzuishou." Pluto reached her hand out, holding a familiar sphere. "Here, this will help you. "

The Princess looked at the sphere. It had a cat's face and cat ears. It almost looked like a _very_ fat Luna. "What's this?"

"It will allow you to travel back to the past, and also... It has a few other uses, but I'll let you discover them yourself. You can also call me if you need help."

"Won't you come with me?"

"I'm sorry, Small Lady, but I have to stay here and stop them from destroying the city."

The small girl nodded. "Okay, I will get that crystal back in no time."

As the girl vanished, Pluto turned around. "You made a habit out of eavesdropping."

Moon walked out from the shadows. "Curiosity killed the Princess, huh?"

"Are you ready for what's to come?"

"More than ready," Moon noted, "These idiots think the city will be defenseless with its shield down, but that's as far from reality as they can get."

"Good luck out there," Pluto said, then turned to the spot where 'Small Lady' had been as Moon teleported out of the palace. Serenity had acted without thinking during the short fight against the Black Moon. And that instinct had actually kept things as they should. Wiseman wasn't just stunned by Serenity's attack. No, it was more than that, it was similar to what she had done to Black Lady. Except instead of taking out all his power, she had left him with just enough power to be a threat to the Senshi of the past, but not for the Senshi of this era.

If all went as planned, Wiseman would realize that, and focus his own attacks in the past. With the main forces focused in getting the Princess, the Senshi of this era would have a relatively easy war ahead of them.

* * *

The four Senshi were sitting in a circle around the shield generator, with a few other Senshi watching them as they got ready to reactivate the shield. If they hadn't already known what was going to happen, then they would have probably never planned something like this, or be ready to do it at the right time.

"Everyone ready?"

The three other women nodded. For Ami, it had been centuries since she had last used her Senshi suit. She turned to look at Terry and smiled. "Don't have too much fun without me, okay?"

"You girls just keep this palace safe," Terry said, "we'll take care of the rest of the planet."

"Don't die out there," Mars said.

Yuu smiled. "Don't worry, that's an experience I don't want to repeat."

Jupiter sighed. "Okay then, let's get this thing up before those freaks come to town."

Venus nodded. "Let's go. Venus Holy Power!"

"Jupiter Holy Power!"

"Mercury Holy Power!"

"Mars Holy Power!"

The room fell silent, except for the hum of the shield generator, until an explosion rocked the palace. "They're here," Karin said.

The four women were left inside that room, their focus only in keeping the shield up, and they would remain there for several weeks, until the Ginzuishou was restored to its place.

* * *

Moon sighed in relief. One of the Nemesian ships (which were made of a mix of black crystal and metal, like the one she remembered Rubeus using,) had fired a strange missile at the palace, but the shield had reappeared just in time to stop it. However, upon realizing their target was unreachable, all the ships turned their attention to the city below. Moon kept her cool, summoning her communicator. "Kyma, how are things there?"

"All the civilians are in the underground shelters. You can shot as big as you want now."

With her parents unconscious, and the four strongest Senshi shielding the palace, the command of the city and the Senshi was hers now. The rest of the world would never know that, however, but she would still fight for this planet, even if it meant having to fight under a fake name.

* * *

"Prince Dimando, one of our spies in the Palace saw the Princess talking to Pluto right after our meeting with Serenity. Pluto gave the girl some strange artifact, and the girl then vanished."

Dimando frowned. "That Princess may be just a small Rabbit, but we cannot ignore the fact she's still alive."

Wiseman's voice was heard from the shadows behind Dimando's throne. "We can't win this war without eliminating the Princess. Moreso, if Pluto was there, it can only mean she sent the Princess away to keep her safe."

"Then we have to go after her."

"That may prove more difficult than you think," Wiseman noted, "I will need a few days to find a way to tap into the place known as the Time Gates."

"You do that, we will begin our invasion of this world," Dimando said.

"More bad news," Saffir commented, "reports from the front say there's a large group of Senshi fighting our spaceships... And several of them are apparently strong enough to bring our ships down in one shot!"

"That's not possible. We have to..."

"We wait, and we make them think our main target is this era," Wiseman said.

"Why?"

"The Princess went back to an era before Crystal Tokyo existed. She will surely go to the Senshi of that era. If we kill them, then this city won't exist. We can win this war a millenia before it even starts."

Dimando nodded. "Rubeus, once Wiseman is ready, you will go back to the past and hunt the Rabbit together with the Ayakashi."

"As you wish," Rubeus said. He would do anything to get a break from Wiseman's unsetting presence, really.

* * *

**A/N:** After getting the error pointed out by one very confused reader, I've renamed the three parts of this saga to make reading them in order an easier task. Also, this episode makes manga 'timeslips' look small. I just skipped over eight centuries of boredom.

_LordHalo:_ Who knows what hides in all that gas, though. So no, mankind's expansion isn't over yet, but they have to get rid of a robe-wearing freak and his band of merry losers first.

_dainlord:_ That was my (very) old account. Nothing to see there. Unless you like horribly written stuff, that is. The only reason it's still there, is that I didn't even remember it was there to begin with.


	9. War of the worlds

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 2: War Games.**

**Episode 9: War of the worlds.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: January 14, 2009_

* * *

"Dark Night Field."

The shadow spread through the ship like a flood, a flood one couldn't escape from, until the whole ship looked like a dark spot in the sky. The aliens inside the ship lived in a planet where 'darkness' was ever-present, but never like this. Not this complete absence of light, this hell where you couldn't even see your own nose, where you couldn't even be sure you were still alive.

Not like that would be an issue for too long for them. Neo Nemesis looked up as the darkness she had created crushed the ship into a tiny spot of overcompressed matter, which then exploded, damaging two other ships severely.

"We have to get them faster," Neo Moon said, "they're wrecking the city."

"Hmph, I don't see you taking them fast enough, either," Neo Venus noted.

Moon snorted. "I didn't want to use this yet, but I think this battle requires something like this. Holy Heart Explosion!"

Venus laughed. "Stupid name." She then heard an explosion and looked up. Where there had once been a large spaceship, now floated a huge, pink heart. "... What the fuck..."

Saturn shook her head. "Seriously, what is it with this girl and hearts?"

But the heart didn't just stay there. Moon moved her hand to one side, and the heart mimicked her movement, smashing through three of the ships before fading. "What were you saying about me not being fast enough, Hikaru?"

"I stand corrected," Venus said, then noticed one of the ships was aiming its canons their way. "Oh no, you won't... Thousand Lasers!"

As the name implied, countless small light beams shot from Venus' hands, piercing through the ship, and causing it to explode before it could fire back.

"Good, keep this up," Moon said, then summoned her communicator again. "You can join up whenever you want, guys."

"We were about to," Haruka's voice said from the comm. A few seconds later, several of the ships exploded, hit by assorted elemental blasts.

Moon smiled. The city had been quite wrecked, that was true, but there weren't enough ships left up there to make this battle last for more than one minute now.

* * *

But the attacks didn't stop there. Nemesis' spaceship fleet was large, and they had a few tricks under their sleeves too. The Senshi had to split to fight battles all around the Earth, protecting several large cities, the Nemesians' favorite target.

And not only the Senshi took the role of defenders in this war. One of the groups defending Europe was the one lead by Warwitch, who was right now discussing the defense strategy with the local army.

"So you say we have to concentrate in attacking and leave the defense to you?"

"That's correct, we are going to leave several of our group protecting the city."

"Several?" The man looked at this woman's group. Two seemingly normal humans and a Senshi. "But that means..."

"I'm more than capable of hitting those aliens where it hurts, General."

Neo Lilith smiled. "You could leave the defense to me."

"Are you sure about that?" Aiko asked.

"I'll show you my training's results today," Lilith simply said.

"Fine," the man interrupted, "I don't like to admit this, but we'll need all the help we can get, even if it's from Lesser Senshi."

"Who's lesser?" Lilith frowned. "I'm Lilith's daughter."

"Oh... Then, we could really use your help out there."

A soldier came rushing into the room. "General, the Nemesians are coming!"

Warwitch smiled. "Let's welcome them."

* * *

The General couldn't help but wonder just how these two women could be that powerful. He was never too worried about knowing what the Senshi could do, much less about other superbeings in their crystal city. But these two, specially Warwitch, were simply incredible.

"Luminscence!"

The man had to cover his eyes as one of the spaceships lit up, exploding seconds later. He turned his attention to the one Senshi in the area, Neo Lilith as she had introduced herself. She was just standing there, apparently doing nothing. One of the spaceships strayed off the group of attackers, seemingly noticing the lone figure in the center of the city, and opened fire.

"Karma Shield."

The ship's many cannons had shot at least a dozen beams towards her, but all the beams were deflected, none hitting any of the buildings surrounding her.

"Need help?" Aiko asked turning back.

"No, I told you I could handle this," Lilith said, then looked at the ship. "Let's see how those aliens work under pressure. Thousand Suns!"

Aiko couldn't help but gasp in surprise as she saw the spaceship turning into a small cube of super-compressed metal and crystal. "What the hell was..."

"I can use both luck and gravity... I guess I'm a little like that guy. I found about this decades ago, and trained this side of my powers too."

"Good, now I'll go help Yuki before she comes yelling at me."

Lilith smiled. "Go do that, I'll keep the city in one piece."

* * *

All wars have casualties, and this war was not different. The young girl stared at the palace. The untouched, shiny castle resting behind a magical wall. Protected from those alien bastards, while the rest of the city got wrecked. Sure, the Senshi had stopped the attack, but it had been too late. Many people died during the initial attack, and her parents were amongst them.

She wasn't supposed to be out here, true, but she knew the idiots back at the refuge would never notice two kids were missing. Not two kids without parents.

"Sin, I wanna go back."

Sin looked at the small boy and her face changed. She smiled at him. "It's okay, Anshar, we can't stay in there all day, you know?"

The boy was visibly upset by the scenery. Half the city was wrecked, the other half was not as bad, but nothing had been left untouched. Nothing but... She looked at the palace again and her glare returned. "The Senshi..."

_The Senshi are a disease, the Earth is doomed as long as they are alive._ Sin looked around. Where did that voice come from? _Do not worry about where I am, little one. All that matters is that I've been looking for those like you, those who see the truth behind the Senshi. They're the ones attracting evil to our world, if they weren't here, then..._

"... Then mom and dad wouldn't have died." Sin completed.

"What's wrong, sis?" Anshar asked.

"Nothing, don't worry," Sin said.

_I cannot fight the Senshi myself, but I can teach you how to do it. I can give you power beyond that of the Senshi, so you can avenge your parents' deaths. I can give you what you want, Sin. _

_'Then I will go with you. I want to make the Senshi pay, no matter what the cost is.'_

_Good, then..._

_'But my brother comes along. I can't leave him here.'_

_Of course,_ the voice said, then everything went white around the two siblings.

* * *

Being the second-best strategist in Dimando's army meant she was quite the woman for this position. Actually, she was the best strategist in his army, but even if he was family, she respected the Prince enough to let the matter they were calling Wiseman the best strategist in the Dark Moon drop.

And thus, she had been placed as the general of the Nemesian armies while Dimando and the others were taking care of other business. She would not let them down, she would defeat these Neo Senshi pests for sure. She had a plan to destroy these Senshi, and she would put it in practice soon. If the plan failed, she would be back to square one, but if she won, then she knew it would raise her army's morale greatly.

* * *

"Wish Mako was here, she would love this."

Neo Venus couldn't quite understand what was so great about this. They were two against two thousand robots. "Karin, how are we going to get through these bugs?"

"You kill a thousand, I kill a thousand."

"Oh, that's easy," Hikaru muttered.

"In fact, it would be quite easy if we didn't want to keep the city relatively in one piece," Moon noted. "I could blast them all to dust in seconds... But I would also blast the city up, and make it all too obvious for anyone watching the news that I am the one they once knew as ChibiMoon."

"Good point," Hikaru said. "Why isn't your knight in the gloomy armor here, though?"

"I'd be careful about calling her that," Moon said, "she's got a glaive and trust me, she loves stabbing people through with it."

"Warning acknowledged," Venus said. "But enough chatting, here they come."

"If I'm guessing things right, then there's someone watching this, someone we have to impress. Think you can take care of the robots?"

"Oh of course, nothing like meleeing a few thousand enemies, really. "

"I said you couldn't wreck the city, I never said you couldn't use magic blasts. just be careful not to destroy anything."

"As you wish, boss," Hikaru said. Not that she was fearing the robots would hurt her badly, really, it was just that this wasn't quite a battle she was going to enjoy. But still, she knew she had signed up for this kind of things the day she became a Senshi, and she would get the job done.

* * *

"Lady Pearl, we've been driven back from every city we attacked so far."

The woman glared at the man. Of course, it wasn't this soldier's fault, but she was just not in a good mood right now. Not only was she failing, but Esmeraude, that bitch Esmeraude, had already visited her twice during this last month, to check on things, and she hadn't been happy.

And Esmeraude not being happy meant she had told Dimando, and Dimando wouldn't be happy either. Being in charge of the Earth strike force was a honor, yes, but it was also a headache when you were facing monsters that could destroy your best battle cruisers in one shot.

"You may leave, I'll broadcast our next move to the army after I study this situation."

The soldier left, and Pearl sank on her chair. There was really no winning strategy here. If they were only fighting the Earth armies, then they would've already won. But these Neo Senshi were too much, in all the war there had been no reports of any of them getting hit _even once._ Not even one wound to those Senshi, in nearly one month of war? These weren't the normal, average Lesser Senshi, but with all the Senshi busy keeping the shield around the Crystal Palace up...

She turned to the computer and swiftly typed in some commands. A display of the battle that had taken place in the city the humans called Rome. There was one Senshi that had seemed familiar to her at first. That pink-haired one... She reminded her of Serenity herself. Pearl had seen the Queen in many visits she made to the Palace pre-war, when the Prince met the Queen.

And she knew she was missing something. There had to be a reason for this girl to have so much power. She looked at the face again, then started browsing the human news archives the Nemesians had hacked into.

There was nothing there. In fact, there were only mentions of six Senshi, which for some reason sounded amiss to her. No, there weren't six planets, so there had to be more Senshi around. Maybe some of these supposedly 'Lesser' Senshi were those who would fill such places.

Pearl knew she was now in her own battlefield. One reason for Dimando to choose her as the General while he was back in the past (and now that Rubeus and Esmeraude weren't around anymore,) was that she was much better at thinking than fighting. It was also a good sign that Dimando had told her where they were, she at least knew her victory here would be easier once Dimando's plans succeeded.

She run a comparative check on the known Senshi and their powers. There were two of these Neo Senshi who had powers like them, of fire and light. However, there were no records of any Lesser Senshi ever coming so close to the power levels the six known Senshi had.

Pearl cringed at that, such a thing could mean there could be more than one Senshi for each planet. She looked at the image of the pink-haired woman again. Of course! She had overlooked it because she didn't have that last bit of information, but now she saw it. This Neo Moon was a relative of Serenity herself. Possibly another daughter. So that meant there was another Princess to deal with. Maybe if she killed her, then she...

Killing her? Killing a Senshi that could destroy one of their ships? Pearl wasn't exaclty a weakling in combat, but she couldn't compare to Dimando at all. Not even to the Ayakashi. Wait, that was it!

Dimando would probably be able to kill them all. No, even better, if they were the Senshi's kids, and the Senshi were killed in the past, then they would never be born... But also...

Pearl hadn't considered what that all meant, but it all hit her at once. No Senshi in the past meant no Crystal Tokyo, but that would mean history would be changed. The Black Moon would cease to exist too, at least the current version of themselves. What was Wiseman planning?

She tried to call Dimando and the others, but got no response from them. She kept trying for two hours, but finally gave up. Grabbing the one 'time displacer' Dimando had given her in case she needed to go back in time, she frowned. She would have to go and see for herself, to make sure the others were okay.

* * *

As Pearl reached the twentieth century, however, she felt something. A feeling she had felt before when Esmeraude died, only now it was much worse. She looked at now abandoned base, the building that the Ayakashi had used as a forwards base in this century. But she knew something was amiss. Yes, the Wiseman, she couldn't feel his creepy presence anymore.

Pearl sank to her knees. They had failed. The Black Moon Family was no more, not counting her or her brother back home. Those Senshi, they had killed them all, they were murderers, she just couldn't...

"I know what you're thinking."

The woman turned to see one of the Senshi there. Not any Senshi, but Pluto, the guardian of time. "What's this, are you here to finish the job?"

Pluto shook her head. "The Senshi killed Wiseman. But it was Wiseman's hand that destroyed your clan."

"Hmph. You're just trying to fool me, to make me forget about..."

"If you won't listen to me, then you should check that computer. It may have something for you."

Pearl frowned at the woman, but checked the computer anyway. There were several entries in the computer written by Dimando, Saffir and the others. She checked them and realized the dreadful truth. Everyone, even Dimando, had gradually became aware that Wiseman wasn't helping them out of loyalty. The most recent entry wasn't just written, and she frowned. Saffir had recorded it, and the name was 'last hope.' She opened the file, and Saffir's face appeared in the screen.

"I don't know if anyone will see this, but if this file's ever opened, then we're already gone. We made a mistake, trusting that Wiseman monster. He didn't want to help us. He feeds on dark emotions. He used us, all along, he wanted to have this world for himself."

Pearl watched the recorded video, not quite aware that Pluto had already left.

"He led us here, to the past, in order to have us kill the Senshi. The Queen, or Sailor Moon as she's called in this era, is the only one who can stop that monster. She's the only one with a weapon that can overpower Wiseman. She's our last hope."

Saffir paused for a few seconds, then his face turned sad. "If anyone ever watches this, that means that we won. We are gone, yes, but if reality isn't changed, then the Senshi won. Whoever you are, relay this message to Pearl and Opal, tell them the war has to stop. I just hope the Senshi of our time are as forgiving as the ones from this era seem to be."

Pearl looked down, her sadness quickly replaced by anger. They had all been fooled, thousands of lives had been lost on both fronts of this meaningless war, all for whatever goal that Wiseman asshole was trying to achieve.

She let her anger burst out, energy blasting forth in all directions and completely destroying the building she was in. She looked around as she realized what she had done, and saw her mistake. If the Senshi of this time detected her... Without wasting a second more, Pearl vanished, heading for the future.

Pluto appeared seconds later and smiled. Yes, the Senshi of this era would have detected her if things were calm, but they were right now trying to stop a comet from crashing straight into Tokyo. She knew the Queen was aware of this, and she would have to bring Small Lady back to her own era.

* * *

Pearl had told her people the truth. Most of their leaders were gone, betrayed and killed by the Wiseman, but the Senshi had killed the Wiseman, so their deaths were already avenged in a way.

She was right now standing in front of the outer barrier of Crystal Tokyo, a single Senshi looking suspiciously at her from inside. "I am Pearl, the current leader of the Nemesian army. I've come here to talk to the Queen herself."

The Senshi, Mars if she remembered the color pattern right, nodded. "The Queen knew you were coming, and is waiting for you. However, I must warn you, should you try anything funny..."

"Your threat is unneeded. I'm well aware of the magic power you have, Sailor Mars."

"Oh, I won't need to do a thing. The Queen is quite capable of taking care of herself. In fact, she's many times stronger than any of the others."

"Oh." Pearl tried not to show it, but that revelation made her all the more uneasy about asking for an audience with the Queen of Crystal Tokyo. "So, am I allowed to go in?"

"Walk right in," Mars said, "I won't stop you."

"But the shield is..."

"The shield is not going to hurt you in the least."

Pearl blinked in shock and walked to the shield. It was almost invisible, a transluscent bubble covering the whole city. She passed a hand through it and gasped. "Amazing."

"This shield obeys the Queen's will. She has granted you access to the city, but one last warning just in case: Should you do anything here to get on the Queen's bad side, then this shield will be an unbreakable wall, at least for you."

Pearl smiled nervously. "It's a good thing I don't intend to do anything strange, then."

"That's yet to be seen," Mars said bluntly.

Apparently, not all the Senshi were trusting her yet. She couldn't blame them, though, as she would have been just as skeptical in their position.

* * *

The Queen was powerful. No, she couldn't really describe how it felt to be standing in front of her. But also, this power wasn't threatening, it was clear this woman wasn't hostile towards her. "Your Highness..."

"Call me Serenity," The Queen said, "what is your name?"

"I'm Pearl, one of Dimando's generals. I'll go straight to the point. I've come here to propose a peace treaty between our planets. "

"That's what the Prince said," the small black cat standing besides the throne (which Pearl hadn't noticed until now,) noted.

"Saffir left a message for us. I know what happened in the past, I know Wiseman betrayed us all... And I know you took care of him."

Serenity showed no surprise at her words. "I see. And you have realized this war is meaningless."

"That's all there is to it," Pearl noted. "The leaders of each Family in my world has already agreed to not set a foot in this world again if that's what's required to end this conflict."

"That won't be needed. I am not a warrior, thus I see no need to fuel the feelings of hatred that developed since this war started. "

"Your daughter is quite the warrior, though."

Serenity was surprised by that. "What do you mean, my daughter's only six years old."

"I'm talking about the other one. The one that supposedly died long time ago."

Moon appeared right besides the throne, startling both the Queen and her advisor. "Yes, I had to do that, for reasons you are better off not knowing."

"What are you doing here?" Serenity asked.

Moon smiled. "Coming to greet someone I know will play an important role in our future."

Serenity frowned at that, but said nothing. Outloud, at least, but she did 'talk' to her daughter mentally. _'This is another one of those things you knew about but didn't mention, right?'_

_'It's not like you never kept secrets from me, mother.'_

Pearl looked at Moon nervously. "So, you really are..."

"Yes, I'm her daughter. But her other daughter doesn't know about me, and she must not know about me yet."

"I understand, I haven't told anyone about it yet." Pearl turned to Serenity. "So, I suppose we have an agreement, then?"

"We'll make it official tomorrow," Serenity said, "but you can tell your people this war is over."

* * *

"So things are back to normal now," Hotaru noted. The two were standing outside the brand new Neo Senshi base, in Europa. Their first project after the war was to try and find out just where the Juvians lived, and the best bet made was that they actually didn't live on the planet (since it was and had always been basically a giant ball of gas,) but on the many satellites. But thus far, even Mako hadn't been able to sense the Seed, wherever it was.

"Normal, yeah, for a while, but in about ten years..."

"Try not to think about that," Hotaru said. True, it was a lot easier said than done, since even Hotaru herself felt the stress of having such an important date be finally so close to them.

"There has to be a way, I just know it, but I don't know just how... "

Hotaru smiled. "If there's something I know, is that you don't give up, Chibi. You'll find a way to both keep the timelines intact and keep us alive."

Usagi sighed. Yes, she was right, she hadn't found a solution to that issue in a thousand years, so maybe it would come to her once the deadline was close enough. "About that other thing I hadn't found a solution to..."

"_Hadn't_, you say?" Hotaru noted, curious about what she meant.

"Yes. There's a way for us to expand our family."

Hotaru frowned. "But doing that this close to..."

"It will give me one more reason to find a way to solve that one problem... And come on, don't tell me you don't think about it anymore."

"I'd be lying if I said that. Okay, I'll bite."

"I hope you don't bite, actually," Usagi said with a wink.

Hotaru blushed slightly. "Err... Wrong choice of words, I suppose. So how are we going to..."

"I won't ruin the surprise," Usagi said playfully.

"Some things never change, right Pinky?"

"That's true, old woman."

Hotaru chuckled at that. "That one won't work anymore. We're the same age right now."

"I know. I'll have to look for a better nickname."

Hotaru looked up at the massive planet their base orbited. "Think we'll find a way to solve _this_ mystery?"

"No idea, but you know the saying, there's nothing impossible..."

"So they say, Chibi." The real question she had in her mind was, however, if the ten years between now and the Hunters' arrival would be as relatively calm as the centuries before the Black Moon's arrival had been. But for some reason, she knew she probably wouldn't like the answer to that question.

* * *

**A/N:** Enter the Neo Senshi. Well, they've been around for a long while, but I suppose this was their first war as a team. Also, I suppose most fans out there will know who Sin and her gang are. If you don't know her, you've missed the best Sailor Moon game ever made.

If you're wondering why this one took so much time to be written, I can only blame two things: Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3.

The episode ended up being a bit shorter than the average for Crystal, but I wasn't about to cut-and-paste battle scenes off Chronicles or previous Crystal episodes just to make it look longer.


	10. Rewritten history

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 2: War Games.**

**Episode 10: Rewritten history.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: January 29, 2009_

* * *

Serenity stared at Hotaru with mild shock in her face. Sure, she knew this was possible, she had known for a while, but she never really thought her daughter would figure it out so soon. "Are you two sure about..."

Hotaru smiled. "If we weren't, then I wouldn't be like this."

Ami was in the throne room with them. Scientifically speaking, Hotaru was right now an impossibility. But being who she was, the Ice Senshi knew that when magic was thrown into the mix, impossible was a meaningless word. Specially when the magic involved was that of the Ginzuishou. "They're both fine, as far as I can tell. I'll still keep an eye on her in the next few months, just in case."

Diana wasn't one to show up around the palace these days (mainly because she didn't like risking her past self seeing her) but this was a special event, and thus she had tagged along. "I was quite shocked too, but this really makes me proud. Small Lady's finally going to be a father."

The Princess cringed at that. "Ugh, I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

"Probably not," Hotaru mused. "But technically, you are just that. "

Serenity turned to Luna. "I think this _is_ a first."

Luna nodded. "Don't remember ever hearing about such an event happening back in..."

"Hmph. There's nothing to be shocked at," Usagi said. "We're going to have a daughter, that's all."

"How do you know it will be a daughter?" Luna asked.

"Well, we're both female, I thought that even with magic involved, that was the only possible outcome."

Ami shook her head at that. "Since magic's involved, we can't be sure. I'm going to have to wait for a while before I can tell the baby's gender."

"That's okay, we can wait," Hotaru said, looking down at her own body. It wasn't noticeable at all right now, with only one month of pregnancy, but she knew in a few months she would look quite different. "I hope it's a girl, too."

Ami looked at Hotaru seriously. "I'm really interested in the process. How did the fertilization happen, what the Ginzuishou did... "

"Ami, the closet pervert," Hotaru said.

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Ami said, "I'm just interested in it from a scientific point of view. And you know me, when I find something that puzzles me, I just have to know."

"We should've recorded it," Hotaru said keeping a poker face.

Serenity stared at her for a few seconds. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Not at all," Hotaru admitted, "it could be a dangerous thing if it fell in the wrong hands." Even though she doubted such a thing as 'the wrong hands' existed in Crystal Tokyo anymore, she had to agree with Rei on this one, you couldn't be too careful with some things.

Usagi frowned and looked at the Queen. "I detect my younger self heading this way, so I guess it's time to vanish."

"Yes, I understand," Serenity said. As the couple and their mooncat vanished, the Queen turned to Ami. "Don't tell this to anyone, not even the other Senshi."

"Of course," Ami agreed, "I'll let them decide the right time to tell the others about it."

* * *

"According to the data from our last scans, there definitely is a solid core down there."

Neo Nemesis looked at the gas giant they were floating over and couldn't help but feel intimidated. "But all that poisonous gas, the strong winds, the temperature... I don't think even a Senshi can make it down there, so I doubt anyone lived there."

"That's true," Neo Lilith admitted, "and also, the gravity must be extreme. Needless to say, this one will be a hard planet to awaken. "

"What about the moons?"

"Some of them can be terraformed, but from what I heard from the Elders, those planets had people living in their surface."

"Then there must be a way to get there."

"Or there was a way to get there when the seeds were active."

"Guess we will have to wait and see what the Elder of the Younger decides."

"Let's go back, I'm not too fond of staying where there's no air to breathe."

Nemesis smiled at that. "Same here."

* * *

As the two returned to the Europa base, they could see a few others were there. The elders Uranus, Neptune and Mercury. "Wow, visitors, we don't get those often," Lilith commented.

"We're not here to visit," Uranus said, "we're here because of your leader's project."

"She's not here right now, she went to Earth..."

Neptune nodded. "But she told us to wait for her."

Just then, Usagi and Hotaru walked in. "Good to see you three came. "

Ami, who had been busily typing something in her glove, looked at her. "From my calculations, under such conditions, you wouldn't last for more than ten minutes. Even five minutes would be critical. I have to say the risks involved here are too high, you should not... "

"I set myself a goal," the Princess said, "and I'm not backing away from it. Let me go in first, I'll restart the mana and then..."

"That would be suicidal," Ami said. "However, there is a way for you to last longer in there. It's fortunate you decided to call both of them here, since Uranus is going to be an important piece of this puzzle."

"I don't follow," Usagi said. It wasn't as often as it had been in the past, but Ami still managed to confuse her sometimes.

Uranus, however, did understand. "You mean this." She mentally called upon one of her techniques, one she had never found a real use for. In a second, she was surrounded by a dense, yet barely visible, air bubble.

"That's right. You can create air out of your own mana, and that air bubble can keep the deadly atmosphere of Neptune away from you for a while. If my data is correct, then you should have around one hour to search for that Seed and activate it."

Neptune looked at the displayed holographic image of the planet that had once been her homeworld. "Our best bet to get in would be doing it through the poles. They're warmer than the rest of the planet, or should I say, less cold."

"Poles warmer than the rest of the..." Lilith blinked at that. "That's strange."

"It is," Ami admitted "Despite how incredibly big the planet looks, it's mostly a gas ball. You will be aiming for the small rocky center, which may be a few times the size of Earth. The Seed has to be in there."

"How will we find it once we get there?"

Moon summoned a small artifact. "Leave that to me."

Uranus looked at the artifact and chuckled. "That thing looks like... "

"A 'Dragon Radar,'" Ami said. "Yes, Terry's got a dumb sense of humor, but you should know that by now."

* * *

Cyan. Everything around them was cyan, and even though the nickname of this world, 'ice giant' wasn't quite accurate, flying down through its atmosphere felt like drilling into an endless ocean of ice.

There was no doubt in her mind that a normal human wouldn't be able to survive here. The atmosphere, thanks to Uranus' power, wasn't a problem now, but the gravity still mattered. Nothing their bodies couldn't handle, but staying around too long would be bothersome.

She smiled as she thought about Hotaru. She had been quite unhappy about having to stay behind, but hadn't argued the point as much as she had expected. Then again, she knew why, she was still not ready to tell the others about her condition.

She looked at the scanner she was holding and noticed something strange. "Huh, according to this thing, we're heading straight for the Seed right now."

"Bullshit, what are the chances?" Uranus asked.

"Higher than the chances we had to defeat Galaxia or Black Lady." Moon mused.

"What, will we have to die to get this Seed?" Neptune joked.

"It would really be pitiful if we let a few million cubic miles of poisonous gases kill us," Moon noted.

Uranus shrugged. "Just how far are we from there? I can't keep this bubble up forever."

"We'll be there in a couple minutes."

* * *

Neptune looked around in shock. She remembered this. She had been here before. But the dead world they were standing on was only a ghastly corpse of what had once been Neptune, the world of oceans.

And against all odds, Moon's radar had been correct. They had landed meters away from the Seed itself. She was now patiently waiting for Moon to... No, it was already done, she could feel her own power raising, and this world's mana flowing again.

Moon looked around in awe. Even at ground level, everything had been shrouded in the same bluish atmosphere, but once she let mana flow free, the 'clouds' started lifting, floating away from the planet itself. "I think I broke something."

Neptune laughed. "You fixed it, but now I have to fix everything else." She concentrated and focused her mind on the Seed. It only took her a few seconds to know what to do. "Done. We better get out of here before we get soaked."

Moon blinked at that. "I don't get it."

"You weren't here in the past, trust me on this one."

"So, do we have to get back up through the clouds?"

Moon shook her head. "No, we had to get in this way because we didn't know what was down here. But we can now go in and out of this world as we do with the rest of them."

"Good," Uranus said. "So, my world's next, right?"

Moon smiled. "Yeah. And now that we know we can do this, I think I'll finish up this project in no time."

* * *

Serenity had always made sure she was kept up-to-date with what was going on in the Earth and the other worlds, but she was right now worried about Earth itself. Being the only planet that was attacked by the Nemesians during the war, many humans were against the idea of having them roam free in their world. It had already escalated to the point where some people had taken it upon themselves to 'clean' the world from the Nemesians.

There was also the other side of the war. There were Nemesians who weren't happy about the outcome, those who didn't want peace, who wouldn't accept the 'lie' of their leader's death being the Wiseman's fault. In a way they were right, it had been her own attack which killed Dimando, but it was his choice to stand in its path to protect her and her daughter's life.

She didn't want to 'bully' anyone into accepting her views, but in some cases there was no other choice. She would have to get the Neo Senshi and some of the Elders to confront the handful of organizations which were trying to restart a war which had no meaning at all, and then...

Serenity's thoughts stopped as she felt something strange. A ripple of energy, of dark energy, not unlike the energy she had felt from the Death Phantom itself. She had only sensed it for a second, but she could tell whatever it was, it was powerful, and it was real. But, she realized, she wasn't alone in the room anymore. "Pluto."

"I'm sure you noticed that small ripple. And if you're thinking it's a threat to us, then you're quite right."

"What's going on?" Serenity asked the Time Senshi.

"Something that shouldn't happen," Pluto admitted. "There's a group of time travellers out there, and they've been trying to mess with history."

Serenity knew what that meant. If someone changed a part of the past, even the past not directly related to them, then history would change. And there was a risk of the 'ripples' doing something far more serious than changing something that already happened. "We have to stop them."

"I'm going to inform the others..." Pluto noted.

"Tell me, what exactly are they trying to change?"

"We stopped them from killing Luna before she met you and told you about your mission," Pluto explained, "and I must warn you, one of them managed to fight us almost evenly."

Serenity paled. They were trying to change _their_ past, to make it so the Senshi of this era didn't exist. "Who are they?"

"I can't tell. Something's protecting them, I can see where they move to, but I can't see where they come from or why they're doing this."

"Whatever the reason is, we have to stop them."

"That 'we'sounds like..."

Serenity gave Pluto a meaningful stare. "It's our past they're messing with. I won't just sit around in my palace waiting for those ripples to get worse."

Pluto smiled. "I see. We need to inform the others about this. If the one we fought was just one of the underdogs, then we may have to send all the Senshi out this time around."

* * *

It was one hour later that the rest of the Senshi were informed of the situation. Most of them were far from happy about it, and some were obviously ready to punch some sense into whoever was threatening their reality. "I say we stop talking and go back there now," Saturn said.

"Hotaru, you're staying," Neo Moon said.

"Bullshit, I'm not going to..."

"You can't fight, you would be risking not only your life, remember?"

"If this reality isn't preserved, then the baby may not be born. I'd rather risk it than..."

"You're staying here," Serenity said, interrupting the two, "it's an order."

The other Senshi looked at her in shock. It was, they were quite sure of it, the first time Serenity had _ordered_ something to any of them. At least with that commanding tone which made it clear she wasn't going to accept any questioning.

And both Serenity and Neo Moon realized, right then, that the others hadn't been informed about Hotaru's condition yet. None of them asked about it, but they was sure they would be asking a lot of questions later on.

Saturn frowned and glared at Serenity for a few seconds, but then smiled. "I'm going to accept that _request_, Serenity, not because of your tone, but because I realize do I agree with you on this one, it's not worth the risk."

"Good," Serenity said, "now I know many of you will be shocked at this, but since Pluto is busy trying to locate where our enemy operates from, I've called someone else to be our guide through time. Neo Pluto."

Most of the Senshi blinked in shock as they saw the woman. She was identical to Pluto, but her skin was a lot lighter, and her eyes were different. Those who had lived as long as the Senshi had, could tell a person's age by looking into their eyes. And this woman was younger than all of them.

Nemesis was the first to find her voice. "Neo Pluto, but how..."

"It's a long story, and right now we can't lose focus," Neo Pluto said, "I'm Saki Meiou, a pleasure to finally meet you all."

"Likewise," Venus said. "So then, how are we going to take care of these enemies if we don't know when they'll attack?"

"There's enough of you around, so I want you to guard several 'regions' of time. I'm going to grant you full access to the Time Tunnel and an artifact that will let you go to any time and place you want to go, as well as help you detect those enemies whenever and wherever they may appear."

"I won't need one," Neo Moon noted.

"Yes, I know."

"What exactly caused the ripple I felt?" Serenity asked.

"The fact we had to fight one of them in the open," Neo Pluto said. "The change was inoffensive enough, so the ripple was small and didn't affect your current selves, but we know they're not going to stop until they get what they want, or we eliminate the threat."

"Then let's go," Serenity said, "I'll let everyone decide who they will team up with."

Neo Pluto nodded. "We need at least two Senshi in each team. Get ready as soon as you can, we don't know when they're going to show up."

* * *

Waiting for an enemy they knew little about was something they hadn't done in quite some time. Almost one thousand years. But now, Ami found herself in a situation she would have called boring, if not for the tension she could feel in the air. "You think we'll get lucky?"

"Depends on what you call luck," Terry noted. "If they come to attack here, so be it."

They were watching over what some historians called the Rebirth, the battle against the Dark Kingdom. There was a higher chance for the enemy to show up here, or so had Ami calculated, since the Senshi were at their weakest form back then.

"Damn it, I hate to be right," Ami said as the artifact Saki had given them started glowing. It was a small green orb, with no visible controls, but it communicated with its user through magic. In Ami's case, however, that wasn't needed, her power allowed her to see everything contained in a computer or similar artifact. The ultimate hacker, as Terry had noted several times in the past.

Terry looked at the sphere and groaned. "Let's go, before they do something stupid."

* * *

The woman looked at the two girls. To think the Senshi had once been so weak... It was perfect for their plans, they could kill the Senshi and then there would be no war. And their master had promised them a different future. A future without the Senshi, a perfect future for this planet.

"Don't even think about it."

She turned around and could almost smile at the irony. "How amusing, the mighty Sailor Mercury and her lap dog have come to play with me. "

Mercury looked at the woman. Everything was blue about her, blue hair, blue eyes, a blue form-fitting body suit, even her nails were painted blue. If not for this woman looking younger (_way_ younger,) she could have been Mercury's twin.

"She's like a younger, bratty version of you," Dragon Mercury noted.

"We know what you're planning, and we won't let you do it."

The woman laughed softly. "I see... Then I'll have to kill you both. "

"What's your name anyhow, Dark Mercury?"

"If you have to know, I'm Nabu, a former citizen of Crystal Tokyo," The woman said, "and I hate you and your petty Queen with every piece of my ice-cold heart."

"That's enough," Dragon Mercury snapped and rushed at Nabu.

"Tempest." Nabu said, and a large wave of ice and snow shot from her hands, knocking the Dragon back. "Chill, pet, I don't want to waste my time with a weakling."

Mercury was quite impressed. She was not one to praise an evil being, but she had to admit it, this woman had enough power to be a challenge. "Underestimating us is what brought down many of our enemies in the past."

"Save the history lessons, because history as you know it is going to vanish soon."

Mercury looked to the side. The Dragon seemed to be out cold right now, so she would have to beat this one herself. That, and she would have to try not to destroy the city. And she knew just how make sure the city wasn't damaged.

Nabu saw Mercury fly up and frowned. "You coward, don't run away!"

Mercury saw Nabu follow her and smiled. "Oh, nothing like that, I just wanted to have the advantage."

"That's priceless... I can fight in the air as well as you. Tempest!"

Mercury saw the incoming blizzard and smiled. "Endless Winter."

Both attacks cancelled each other, and before Nabu knew it, she was sent flying back by a straight to the face. "Fuck..."

Mercury didn't stop there, she followed Nabu and kicked her up. She then vanished and reappeared right where Nabu was heading, punching her in the gut and sending her sailing down. Finally, she appeared under Nabu, summoning a thick wall of ice in which Nabu crashed painfully. "I can't believe this is your real power."

"Smart one, aren't you?" Nabu said as she floated away from her foe. "I guess I did underestimate you, Mercury, but I'm going to stop playing now. Hail Dance."

Mercury shook her head to recover her senses. It had been a swift attack, but she had seen it, an almost solid wall of ice shards. She could feel the blood running down her arms and legs, and realized this woman was stronger than she had calculated.

"What's wrong, girl, the frostbite hit you bad?"

Mercury smiled at that. "Funny you would mention frostbite," she said as she summoned the Dragon's sword. "Winter's Requiem!"

Nabu lost count of how many rooftops she had bounced on way before she stopped. As she stood up, she realized she had greatly underestimated the Senshi. Mercury was supposed to be one of the weakest Senshi around, she couldn't have that much power! But she saw that Mercury was breathing heavily, which meant she had been weakened greatly. One more blast could do the trick, she only had to...

"Grim Blade."

Mercury looked down and saw the Dragon giving her the thumbs up from ground level. As she looked around, though, she saw this Nabu woman was gone. "She retreated, apparently."

"Are you okay?" Dragon Mercury asked floating up.

"I'll live," Mercury said. "Let's get out of here before my past self shows up."

Dragon Mercury frowned. He could remember now, a memory from this distant past, something he read when he was looking for clues on who the Senshi were, right before he arrived in Japan. There was this rumor floating of several buildings getting their rooftops caved in by an unknown force. Youma and Senshi had been blamed for it, and he had dismissed it.

No, he could see two 'versions' of the same past. And in one of them, there was nothing like this mentioned. "Fuck..."

"What's wrong?"

"I can remember seeing this incident in the past... But I also remember _not_ seeing it."

Mercury flinched. "That means the past's changed enough for us to notice now."

"And it could get worse," the Dragon said, "but we'll have to hope the others can handle whoever shows up in other epoques."

* * *

Rei and her daughter had been watching over that era for quite some time. It was quite hard to tell how much, however, since in the 'limbo' time didn't pass at all. "You know, when I first heard about this from Usagi, I didn't believe her."

Rei smiled. This was the period where the Game Master had appeared. Looking back, Umino had been their silliest foe ever. "I still don't believe we ended up fighting against videogame characters, but we did."

"Why didn't you choose dad?"

"Because you're as good a fighter as he is."

"I never had a real battle before... Well, not counting what happened with Takamaru."

"Those Nemesians were fighting for real," Mars said, "or at least that's what the Elders that were awake back then said."

"They may have been fighting for real, but to me, those battles were easier than training ones."

Mars looked at the sphere the younger Pluto had given them and sighed. "Guess you will have a chance to test your skills right away. "

* * *

"It's been quite a long time since I saw you use that suit."

Moon looked at her friend and smiled. "The same could be said about you, Luna. But are you really sure you can..."

Luna was in her human form. "Like many of the others, we have trained whenever we could. Right now, staying in this form isn't an issue. If I start shooting attacks, though, I will have to return to my real form after only a few shots."

"Then don't risk fighting more than you should, Luna."

"I know that, Usagi."

"You know, it's the first time we're going to fight as a team."

"That's true. And we'll have to fight sooner than we thought."

Moon looked at the sphere and nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

"I'm seeing double."

Neo Mars looked at the woman. If not for the magic she was sensing in her, she would seem like an ordinary teenage girl. Well, that, and the fact she was floating in mid-air.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled at Mars. "I'm Nergal, and I was here to kill this era's Mars. But I suppose killing the one from the future will be a nice boon."

"Fireball Storm."

Mars smiled at Neo Mars. "I see you're not in the mood for talking. "

"Overheat."

The two Senshi of Mars found themselves surrounded by flames, though the attack didn't damage them a lot. "This girl's a joke."

Mars frowned. "Keep your cool, Hisa."

"... Right. I think she's got a damn good reason to be angry, though. "

Nergal frowned. "Of course I do. My family, they were all killed by those Nemesians!"

"Hmm, that's bad, but I was talking about having a cat's name. That surely isn't a nice trait."

Nergal let out a furious growl, her body suddenly aflame. "Core Heat!"

Mars saw her daughter being hit by a massive fireball, and followed her with her eyes as she was sent crashing into the sea, a few miles north of where they were fighting. "You stupid whore..."

Nergal laughed. "Fight fire with fire, dear Mars. Besides, she was just getting in the way of our battle."

"Too bad the battle will be over before you know it. Inferno Demon!"

Nergal found herself in a chokehold, she could feel the heat of whatever the creature behind her was, but couldn't see what it looked like. "What is this? You're not supposed to be this strong!"

Mars snorted at that. "Then whoever sent you has never seen me angry. Fire Star Immolation!"

Last thing Nergal remembered was Mars rushing at her, she knew Mars had hit her at least a dozen times before whatever the creature was which held her let go of her. She fell to the ground in a heap and looked up at the Fire Senshi. "This isn't..."

Mars frowned as Nergal vanished. Had she killed her, or did that girl have enough energy to run away? She remembered something else and knew she would have to ponder about all that later. Phasing where Neo Mars had landed, she looked down at her, worriedly. "Hisa, are you okay?"

The younger girl opened one eye and winced. "Not really, mom."

"Then let's get you back to our era, I'll have Hotaru heal you."

"But what if that woman comes back?"

"I'll take her there."

Mars turned to see the younger Pluto there. "Good timing."

"Things are going smoothly, even though there have been minor changes to reality in two epoques," Pluto said. "Mom's trying to find a way to correct those changes, but we should be okay as long as nothing major happens."

"Okay, just take Hisako back, I'll keep an eye on things here until she recovers."

* * *

"Ishtar won't be defeated easily by the likes of you!"

Venus cringed. This girl... She looked a lot like her, but as far as brain power went, she was sure she had never been _this_ dumb. However, what she lacked in wit, she had in speed, and it was the first time in a long time someone could keep up with Venus' attack speed. It was the first time someone had matched up her _current_ speed, and that was something to praise.

However, that meant it was only her against this girl, Hikaru and Brad could do nothing but stare at what little they could follow of the battle and hope for the best.

Still, it was good they had managed to stop this girl, Ishtar, before she managed to kill Moon. In the era they were guarding right now, Moon was at Eternal level, but even then, this blonde freak would be way too powerful even for her.

"Venus Wink Chain Carnage!"

Brad saw Ishtar crash to the ground meters away from them and chuckled. "Guess she's still the fastest."

The blonde tried to stand up, but couldn't quite do it. She glared at Venus, who had stopped moving, and growled. "Ishtar won't forget this. Next time we meet, I'm going to kill you, Venus."

Neo Venus blinked as the woman vanished. "Switched from cute talk in that last bit..."

"Guess she gets smarter when she's angry," Venus joked.

* * *

"Supreme Rock Thunder Dragon!"

The woman bounced on the ground several times before stopping. She didn't bother moving, as her body was telling her that would be very painful right now. Still, she looked up at the two Senshi who had beaten her. "You two... I can't believe you are this strong..."

"Marduk, was it?" Jupiter said. "Tell whoever your boss is, that you are not going to win against us."

Marduk frowned. "We shall see, won't we?" she said before vanishing.

"That girl was quite strong."

Jupiter turned to look at Earth, who was holding her bleeding left arm right now. "That looks bad."

"Been hit worse," Earth noted.

* * *

Moon looked at the woman standing in front of her. This woman's face, the twin ponytails she had, her hair color... It was almost like looking at herself in the mirror. "You said your name was Sin?"

"Yes, that's me. I used to live in Crystal Tokyo, I was a happy girl living in that utopia of yours... But then, you and your group betrayed me."

"I've never seen you before," Serenity noted.

"Of course not, but I always saw your face, everywhere. I believed in you and your group, that you would always be here to protect everyone. But when those alien assholes attacked, the shield wasn't there... You weren't there."

"That is... We weren't ready for it."

"Bullshit," Sin snapped, "you knew about it, you knew what was going to happen, you could have changed it all, could have destroyed those aliens before they even set a foot in our world. But no, you had to play along with the script that time whore set... Your soldiers let my parents die before they showed up to fight the invasion."

How did this girl know about that, how did she know that they knew how things would be? Maybe she had returned to that day while travelling through time, or maybe... Whoever her 'boss' was, had told her about it. Either way, Moon was aware that, this time around, she was more of a villain than her foe. "I suppose apologizing for it won't change your mind."

"You're quite right, oh mighty Queen," Sin said in a voice that seemed to drip venom.

"But if you change the past, if you destroy us, then you yourself will..."

"I will vanish. At least this version of me will, as will my brother and all the others from our group, but she's already shown us the kind of reality we will have once the change's done. And I am willing to trade this life for a chance to be happy with my family. "

Moon winced. Their boss had such powers? Why was it using this girl to fight, then, and whoever the 'others' were?

"Hmph, I know what you're thinking," Sin said, "that I'm being used by her. I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm sorry I'm not filling your usual evil being form correctly, but I know what I'm going to unleash into this world, I know that I will not exist anymore, at least not this version of me... I know you think that without Senshi, this world will be helpless against any alien form. But you're wrong. Without Senshi around, this world will cease to be one big magnet for evil creatures."

"What? That's a lie!" Luna snapped.

"Is it?" Sin snapped back at the 'catgirl.' She then looked at Serenity. "Bet your group never realized this. Even the genius Mizuno never thought about this possibility. But it's just like that, it was never the mana wells that attracted enemies. It was you and your group."

"That can't be true," Moon said, "we were here to defend the world from evil. Without us around..."

"Believe what you want, dumb Queen. But I won't be deceived by you anymore, now that I know the truth."

"Then I guess you want a fight."

Sin smiled as her hands lit up with energy. "I've been waiting for this day to come for ten long years, Queen Serenity. It is time for you to die."

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I've modified Sin and the other girls' powers a bit... But that's to be expected, they weren't originally meant to fight planet-busting Senshi, after all.

By the way, even though Sin is an English word, in Japanese it means "truth, sincerity, devotion." I think it fits her quite well.


	11. A perfect life, a perfect lie

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 2: War Games.**

**Episode 11: A perfect life, a perfect lie.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: February 9, 2009_

* * *

Moon had almost forgotten this feeling. It was something her mind had tried to deny once and again, back when she was actively fighting evil, but she had a lot more experience now than she did back then, and thus she knew exactly what this meant.

Much despite herself, and despite the danger this woman represented, Serenity was enjoying this battle. She had thought about knocking out Sin and capturing her, but Sin... She had resisted her magic.

It had been a long time, a thousand years, since something like this happened. And this woman was threatening to destroy everything she'd fought for. But even then, she still felt it, the call of the fighter in her.

She punched Sin back as the woman tried to hit her, then saw Luna going for melee herself. It was quite fitting that Luna's fighting style was very much cat-like, her reflexes were amazing, and Sin had little chance to hit her.

While fighting, however, Serenity had became aware of something else. She had some memories from the past resurface, of things that hadn't affected them back then, but still, they were clearly important. Mysterious explosions, sightings of battles in the sky, buildings falling apart for no reason, all that kind of things... There was a duality about these memories, somehow she remembered seeing something in the news, but also remembered not seeing it.

Sin saw Serenity was distracted and smiled, blocking Luna's kick with one hand while she aimed at the Queen with the other. "Dark Edge."

Serenity leapt aside, barely dodging the dark blast. It cut through a building before vanishing, and Serenity paled. "There were... There were innocents in that building!"

"If you care so much, then don't dodge," Sin said with a shrug.

But Serenity could see it, the spark of guilt in Sin's eyes as she realized what she had done. "Your fight is with me," she said, "so let's bring it up to the sky."

Luna frowned as Moon floated up. "Wait, the risk is too high!"

Moon sighed. "But letting this woman kill innocents, I just can't... "

"You can't? Like you couldn't let your own people die during the Black Moon attacks?" Sin snapped. "You're a damn liar. You've even watched your own friends die without doing a thing. You don't deserve all the praise you get for your past deeds, Queen."

Moon flinched. "Yes, I know I've made mistakes in the past, I know those mistakes caused pain to others. I'm not perfect, and I'll be the first one to admit it. But if you want your parents back, then I could bring them back."

"That... You could do that?" Sin said, looking at Moon in shock. "You could really..."

_'Don't be fooled, Sin. She can't do that, it would change the history she wants to protect so much. The only way for your parents to be back is to kill this woman, and then kill her past self. '_

Sin could feel anger building up. "You liar, you can't bring them back, you can't make me forget about all these years of pain and grief I've lived thanks to you! I'm going to kill you!"

Moon frowned as Sin vanished. No, she wasn't around anymore, which meant... She mentally sent a message to all the Senshi. _'There's a woman who looks a lot like me, her name's Sin, and... I think she may be going further back in time to kill me. Everyone, please stay alert.'_

"What do we do now?" Luna asked.

"I'm going to search for her. I can't let her get away with what she's trying to do."

"But you can't kill her," Luna guessed.

"Can you? She's right about a lot of things."

"I'm not so sure of that," Luna said, "but don't let the part about us being responsible for evil beings coming here get to you. That's just a lie her boss told her."

* * *

Neo Moon heard her mother's message and sighed. It was really annoying, to not know where this enemy was coming from, or when and where they would show up. She had requested for the remaining two Younger Senshi, or Neo Senshi as they were known nowadays, to join her, and it was a good thing, they needed the battle experience, and she needed the backup.

"Not to jinx us or anything," Neo Nemesis said, "but it's quite likely they will end in this era."

Neo Moon had to agree with that... They were guarding a time where the Senshi were their weakest, back when their powers hadn't awakened yet. She was looking at a very young (and cute) Usagi right now, who was on her way to school, in what seemed like an ordinary day. "Girls, I know when they're going to attack."

"Huh? How?"

"Call it instinct, if you like, but I'm not going to risk doing nothing and being right about it."

The three Neo Senshi vanished, and reappeared several meters behind the young Usagi. Just as they did, a figure appeared right in front of the girl. "I hate when you're right, Moon," Neo Lilith noted.

"This is the end, little girl. Dark Edge!" The blast Sin shot, however, curved up and missed its mark completely. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Thousand Suns!"

Sin was knocked down to the ground by the blast, and realized she couldn't stand up. The gravity around her was being raised, if she didn't do a thing soon, then...

"Who... Who are you?"

Neo Moon froze. This wasn't going as planned, Usagi had seen them and Sin, this would change a lot! She had to think of something, and quick but what...

Neo Lilith saw Sin vanish and frowned. "She's gone, but what about... "

"Leave this to me, I'll tag along in a minute," Neo Moon said.

"Right, boss," Neo Nemesis muttered before the two vanished.

Neo Moon looked at the small girl and groaned. "Mom's going to hate me for this..." Her crystal lit up for a few seconds, and she smiled as the young Usagi stood frozen in place. "Or not, since she won't remember," she added before vanishing.

Usagi blinked a few times before looking around in confusion. "Strange, I thought I heard someone." She shrugged it off as her imagination and resumed her walk to school, humming happily.

* * *

Serenity smiled. One crisis averted, but they still had to stop these women from attacking any more regions of time. She saw someone appearing and nodded. "I was about to call for you."

"Serenity, I must say I'm partially glad those women decided to attack different eras. Thanks to that, I was able to trace them down to their own lair."

"That's good. We can take the fight to them now."

"Be warned, though, that there's something in there, something with a power like nothing I've ever seen before."

"We can't just sit around and let them continue with their attacks. I have to make Sin see that she's not right about everything she says, that she could still be happy in this reality."

"You have to consider that she's been fed lies for a long time now. Maybe she's past the point where she could be redeemed."

"No, I won't accept that. I can let this be like all those other enemies..."

"I hope you're right, because eliminating someone with that much power would be a waste."

* * *

"That was a failure. A complete and pathetic failure."

"It is not, for now we can lure them to us..."

"You lied to us, Apsu. You said our power would be enough to face those Senshi in equal terms."

The figure in the shadows let out a chuckle. "My dear Sin, I would never lie to you. I merely underestimated the Senshi. I fear that is an all too common mistake of those opposing her."

Sin growled, but then looked down. "I underestimated them, too. That gravity bitch, I never thought her powers could be so overwhelming. "

"We will have the strategic advantage here," Nabu noted. "We know this place, while the Senshi have never been here. It will be all too easy to pick them one by one."

"We need not fight them all," the only boy in the room said, "just Serenity, her daughter, and her five strongest lackeys."

"They're the base, the foundation of their team," Nabu agreed, "the boy's right, if we take care of those, the rest will fall."

"We need not kill them," Apsu said, "and once they're here, I will be able to alter their destiny, and in turn, change my own destiny." After she said that, the woman started coughing.

"Lady Apsu, are you all right?"

Apsu looked at Nergal. "My time's running out. As long as the Ginzuishou exists in this era, then my death will be unavoidable."

Anshar nodded. "We know that. We cannot fail again, not if we are to save the one who saved us in the past."

* * *

Neo Moon gasped. "There is another gate?"

"It's not like the Time Gate," Pluto noted, "it's a pocket dimension that exists outside time, yes, but it is... Artificial."

"Isn't the limbo also..." Jupiter pondered. "Artificial?"

"That place wasn't made by anyone, as far as I can tell," Pluto said, "but that's a talk for another time. We have two choices right now. We can stay watching over the timelines and try to defeat them whenever they show up, or we can take the fight to their own lair. However, I can sense something there, something evil, but it knows I'm watching, and it somehow blocks me out."

"It blocks you out?" Neo Moon asked. "But how... I thought only mom could do that."

"Which means this enemy is as strong as Serenity, or maybe stronger. "

"That's a bit hard to believe," Dragon Mercury said, "but then again, that's how things always were back when we were young."

"So it's likely we will walk into a trap," Saturn said.

Neo Moon sighed. "We? I thought I said..."

Saturn gave Neo Moon a short glare before answering to that. "Our very reality is threatened and we don't know what we'll find there. You have no way of talking me out of this one, Chibi."

"Damn it, think about..." Neo Moon caught herself before she said the next bit, then groaned. It didn't matter, they would find out sooner or later, there was no use in hiding it right now. "Hotaru, think about the baby."

That got a few assorted mutters from the rest of the group, but the two didn't seem to care. "I'm thinking about that. If they kill you, then I'll be left alone. And if you fail, then that's it, no future for us. I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to return."

"... Damn it, I hate when you're right."

As the two fell silent, Venus finally found a chance to ask what many others were wondering. "What is this about a baby, you two?"

"Hotaru's pregnant," Serenity said.

"Does that mean Chibi's the... Father?" Venus asked, realizing that was likely the only way, no matter how strange that sounded. "Screw it, that's too weird, even for us."

"The moment the Ginzuishou shows up, 'too weird' loses any meaning," Mercury noted with a smile.

"The Ginzuishou, huh..." Earth said. "Can we borrow it later on?" Jupiter looked at her as she said that, then blushed and looked at her own feet.

"Back to the issue at hand," Neo Moon said, "they will be waiting for us. They will attack us. That's why you can't go, Hotaru."

"I will go," Saturn said, giving Neo Moon a meaningful stare. "Even if Serenity ordered me to stay, like last time, I would still go."

Neo Moon knew the way Saturn was looking at her right now, and knew there was no point arguing it. "Fine, do as you like."

"That was my intention from the start, yes," Saturn countered.

"Can we leave before these two replay their fight from a few centuries ago?" Neo Venus asked.

"The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be back after we kick their asses," Dragon Sun noted.

"Can't argue with that," Pluto said. "Let's go."

* * *

"They're here," Anshar said.

Apsu nodded. "Finally, it's time to get rid of the Senshi forever. "

"Thought you weren't going to kill them?"

"There's ways to stop the Senshi from existing besides killing them, Anshar."

* * *

Purple, everything around them was purple. The whole place seemed to be made of purple crystal, which gave out an eerie light. "I don't like the look of this at all," Venus said.

"Purple's good," Saturn commented, "but yes, I agree, there's something evil about this very place."

Serenity could feel that evil, she knew the exact location of it, but she could only agree with the others, this place was getting on her nerves. "Just follow my lead, this enemy isn't too far from... " She froze as she sensed something, or rather, couldn't sense something that had always been there. She looked back and her fears came true. Her friends were not there anymore. They weren't dead, because she would have felt something like that, but still... How could they have vanished like this, how... Then she realized something else. That evil she was feeling earlier on, was now all around her. "Who's there?"

"Haven't you ever thought what your life would have been, without that burden you must carry?" It was Sin's voice. "Haven't you ever wished you never became a Senshi in the first place? Let me show you how life would be for you."

Serenity turned around as her surroundings shifted, and realized she had walked right into their trap.

* * *

"They were so easy to fool..."

Apsu laughed softly. "It's not surprising at all. Not even Pluto could see the real nature of this place. Serenity saw it, but not in time to stop it. Once any intruder enters here, they're left to my mercy, I can change the layout of this place at will, I can even send someone a thousand miles away from where they originally were. I can even make it so they're all in different places in time. And now, I have isolated the ones I want to attack."

Sin smiled at that. "Good, the show is about to start. But how will you defeat them?"

"I won't. They will defeat themselves. But just in case, Anshar... "

"Yes, Lady Apsu?"

"I need you to go back in time, but this will be the biggest leap so far. But do not attack, wait for us there. If we fail here, we will go back and destroy our problem for good."

Anshar frowned as he saw Apsu's plan in his mind. "But that is..."

"Yes, if we can't get rid of these Senshi, then we should make it so there were never Senshi to begin with."

Anshar smiled. "I see. An excellent strategy, as usual. I will go back now, sis."

Sin nodded. "Go, and don't have too much fun without us."

* * *

Naru woke up with a start. Where was she? At her house, of course. She looked at the alarm clock and smiled, there was plenty of time to get Anya ready for school before opening the shop.

She idly noticed Umino was already up, and already checking the internet. She was a bit too addicted to those games, but he always had time for her and her daughter. "Good morning, Umino."

"Hi, Naru, ready for today's special event?"

Naru frowned. Special event? Oh, that was true, Usagi's birthday, how could she have forgotten about that? "Yeah, I sure am. It's also the younger Usagi's birthday, too."

"Yes, it really kills two birds with one stone."

Naru smiled and walked out of the room. There she was, in her thirties, happily married, with a child and a job she loved.

Then why did it all feel so wrong to her?

* * *

"Doctor Mizuno, you've got a visitor."

Ami looked up from the computer as the nurse walked out, and smiled. "Terry!"

Terry smiled back and accepted the hug she gave him. "How's my favorite doctor doing?"

"As busy as always, but luckily my shift's over," Ami said. "Did they give you any trouble today?"

"Amazing as it may sound, Aiko and Taka didn't argue at all today. "

"You make it sound like they're always fighting."

"Well, they're siblings, you know how that goes..."

"No, I don't. And you don't, either."

Terry laughed at that. "Got me there. Say, you're not busy right now, right?"

"No, why?"

"There's this new exhibit at the museum, I thought we maybe..."

"It's a date, then," Ami said with a grin. "Just let me change out of these clothes..."

"Can I watch?"

"Pervert."

"Yeah, that's one of my many charms," Terry said.

Ami shook her head at that and walked into the bathroom to change. As she did, though, she realized something was missing. Something she couldn't put a finger on. But what was it?

* * *

Another busy day at the restaurant was now over. Mako looked around and noticed something. "Ran out of garlic, I'll have to go buy more of it."

"Leave that to me."

Mako smiled at Karin as she walked into the kitchen area. "You already do a lot around here."

"Yeah, but it's thanks to your cooking that this place's famous. If I don't help you whenever I can, then I'll start feeling useless."

"Then I'll have to cheer you up," Mako said slyly.

"Sounds fun."

Ten minutes later, the two had closed the restaurant, and were walking down the street, heading for the appartment they shared. "How are your parents doing?"

Mako smiled. "They're fine, they were around today while you were still not at the restaurant."

"Hmph. Sometimes I think they avoid me on purpose."

Mako sighed. "Even if that's so, it changes nothing."

"I know that, but I wish they could get over it already."

Mako looked down for a few seconds. She could feel something in her mind, trying to become a conscious thought, something she felt she was lacking. But what could she wish for right now, when things just couldn't get better?

* * *

The shrine was quite popular nowadays, and she always had visitors. But today's visitor was quite important, not only for his position as the city's mayor, but because he was her father.

"I can tell Hisako isn't here."

"No, she's at school right now," Rei said.

"Are you okay with living here? I mean, this was your grandfather's..."

"It was my home too," Rei said, "I grew up here, you know, after you and mom..."

The man nodded. "I know. I will not insist, if you feel your place is here, then it's good. But remember my home's doors are open, Rei. "

Rei smiled at that. "I know that, dad."

Something was wrong about this, and she knew it. She had a perfect life, and she had always... No, that wasn't true, this wasn't her real life, she wasn't in her thirties anymore. And most important, she wasn't a normal human girl.

* * *

Minako sighed. "Today wasn't an easy day."

"Huh, what's wrong?"

"Not much, it's only the movie I'm filming, something about a heroine who fights demons and protects the Earth..."

"Fights demons, huh?" Brad noted, "does she use big guns?"

"No, just 'magic.'" Minako said.

"Magic?" Brad chuckled. "That's cute."

"Yeah, but I have to go running around in some ridiculously showy suit and strike a pose before attacking... Seems so... Dumb."

"A revealing suit, huh... I want to see that movie already."

"Hmph, like you don't see enough of me already."

Brad chuckled. "True. Say, how about we go out for dinner?"

"Sounds great... As long as we can sneak past the fans."

"We could just run them over, you know..."

"No, I'd rather not do that, no matter how annoying they may be," Minako said. She suddenly felt it, a strange sensation, as if something was out of place. But nothing was, she was a movie star, everyone loved her movies (or so she liked to think,) and she was married to a wonderful (though sometimes silly) man. What could there be missing for her?

Looking back at what had happened today, at the movie she was starring on, she saw what the problem was. This wasn't her life, this was something she had hoped for in her youth, something that she still saw in her dreams, sometimes, but this Minako Aino, this wasn't her. "I'm not like this. I'm a Senshi."

* * *

Maybe it was because of their crystals, maybe it was because of them being stronger than the rest, but both the Queen and the Princess had realized something about the illusion they had been thrown in. A normal life, back in the twenty-first century, with them (and everyone else) being just normal humans, living happily in a perfect version of their reality where no monsters or magical creatures ever seemed to appear.

But both also saw that was a flaw on itself. For them, for the Senshi, fighting those enemies had been a part of their lives. Much despite herself, even Serenity had enjoyed that era, in its real version. This perfect reality the enemy was creating for them was, for that very reason, not perfect.

* * *

The other Senshi had realized the same thing, too. None of those seemingly perfect lives were their real lives, and none of them would ever dream of abandoning all they had been through, all they had fought for, everything they had lived, for some fabricated life, some lie told to them. Even if that life was 'perfect.'

And thus, as the seven girls looked around, they could see they were all in a somewhat different place. Everything was still purple, yes, but they were now in some sort of throne room. And the woman sitting on the throne was staring at them with what seemed like curiosity.

"Why, Senshi, why is it that you choose your flawed lives over those perfect ones I made for you?"

Serenity glared at her. "Because they're our lives. Everything in them made us what we are now. All the pain and suffering we went through, everyone we lost in the past, all our errors. Our lives are who we are, and not even you can change that."

Mars nodded. "I can see now what you girls are trying to do, trying to build a perfect future for yourselves, blaming us for whatever happened to you... That's sad, it's a pity anyone should live such a life."

"We don't need your pity," Nergal snapped.

"In fact, we don't need anything from you," Sin said, "we just want you all to die."

"Wait, where's everyone else?" Neo Moon asked.

"They were sent out of here, and can't get in anymore," Apsu noted.

"Why target only us?" Jupiter asked. "Every member of our team is important, even if you eliminate us..."

Apsu laughed. "How little you understand, Senshi. I've predicted what each change I want to do will cause, and if even one of you was to vanish from this reality, then everything else would fall apart. "

"Then we'll have to destroy you," Neo Moon said.

"I'm sorry, but to do that, you will have to get through us," Sin said as her group approached them.

* * *

Saturn looked around in shock. "What... Where are we?"

"Back in Crystal Tokyo, it seems," Pluto said. "This enemy is a tricky one."

"Damn it... Several of us are missing," Neo Nemesis noted.

Neo Pluto flinched. "Mom, can you feel it?"

Pluto nodded, her calm gone for an instant. "The threat to the timelines is greater than I thought. If they don't beat this enemy, then our reality could be erased completely."

"Then we've got nothing to worry about," Saturn said.

"How can you be so calm?" Neo Lilith asked with a frown.

"Because I've known them for longer than most of you," Saturn said. "They can't be defeated."

"Hope you're right."

"Can't we just go back there?" Neo Venus asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm being blocked out of there," Pluto noted, her daughter nodding at that, "there's no way to get there right now."

"Great, the first time we were going to fight an actually strong foe, and we're blocked out of the battle," Neo Nemesis muttered.

Pluto focused in what she was seeing, something the others, except for her daughter, couldn't see. She trusted her Queen, and knew Serenity would do everything she could to defeat their foe, but there was more than one possible outcome for this war, and most of them were disastrous for them.

* * *

**A/N:** I couldn't use the alternate scenarios the evil ones showed the Senshi in the games, as it wouldn't look natural to this version of them.

What Apsu was planning, and where Anshar is right now, is one of those things I've been planning in advance for a _very_ long time.

_X0001:_ The baby's gender is already decided, but that means you have fifty percent chances of being right.


	12. At world's dawn

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 2: War Games.**

**Episode 12: At world's dawn.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: February 17, 2009_

* * *

Apsu observed the battle with mild interest. The Senshi had been 'stronger' than her own soldiers before, but that was due to two things. First off, the Senshi outnumbered them, and while her Opposition Senshi were stronger than any of those Holy Senshi, they weren't strong enough to take on two or three of them at a time.

And the second advantage the Senshi had in their last battle, was that Apsu's powers were affected by the mana in the environment. She had considered that, and had seen a potential danger to her mission, but, she thought back then, that couldn't be helped. She had to destroy the Senshi, and what better way to do it than killing them when they were weak?

Right now, her own Senshi were stronger than the enemy, she could see that. Their numbers were almost even, and inside this dimension, Apsu could use her powers freely, she had also separated them all while they fought. Yes, this battle was as good as won, but she still had a second plan, in the unlikely case they failed here. If she couldn't destroy these Senshi, then she would destroy the first one, the legendary First Senshi, a warrior she knew surpassed even the ones they were facing right now.

* * *

This Nabu was completely different to the one she had fought before. If before she was able to keep up with Mercury's power, right now she clearly had the upper hand. A wave of ice shot by as Mercury dove to the side. Attacks at the level they were using right now would freeze entire blocks of the city instantly, so it was a good thing they were fighting in this pocket dimension.

But thanks to that, Mercury realized, she would have to go into full combat mode if she wanted to win. "Icycle Burst!"

Nabu reacted a split second too late, only noticing the needle-thin spikes coming out of the ground underneath her after the first one had pierced through her leg. "You bitch... Die!" Mercury leapt over Nabu's ice blast, going for a kick to her head. Nabu, however, predicted that and ducked, smiling at the Senshi's error. "Gotcha. Freezing Hell."

Mercury stood there, unphased by the blast. Nabu was confused by that, but then saw Mercury was holding a large sword. "Damn, that thing again."

"Winter's Reaper."

Nabu fell to her knees, breathing heavily. She had clearly seen what hit her, yet she had been unable to move. Frozen, as ironic as that would sound. She looked back and saw them, three human-sized ghosts, all wrapped in a thin layer of ice dust. "No, I can't fail, I have to defeat you..."

Mercury walked to Nabu. "I've researched on you, Nabu from the European Confederation. I know you're blaming us for what happened, but that..."

"Of course I am. My brother was the only living relative I had, but your stupid war... He fought against those aliens, and he... He was gone by the time those stupid Neo Senshi decided to show up."

"What Apsu is telling you isn't the only way to solve this," Mercury said. "Trust us, trust the Queen, she will resurrect him."

"That's a lie. You can't do that, not to those who aren't Senshi, not to..."

"That's what Apsu told you, of course, because she needs you to defeat us."

* * *

"Are you going to stay in there all day?"

Mars smiled. No matter how strong this girl was, fire wasn't going to get into her fire shield, unless she allowed it. "I might as well do that. Once the others are done beating your friends, they'll tag along."

Nergal laughed as she once again shot a barrage of fire bolts at Mars' shield. "You idiot... If we're defeated, then Apsu will show you her true strength."

"Hmm, I wonder about that. Ever saw your boss fight?"

"No, but she gave us this power," Nergal snapped. "So she must be stronger than us."

"Then why didn't she fight us herself?"

"I'm not going to tell you what her weakness is, fire witch."

"You're blind to the truth. Apsu is using you, once she's done with whatever she's planning, she will get rid of you all." Or, Mars thought, if this Apsu woman was like Wiseman, then she probably knew she wouldn't have to raise a finger. If they were to die in the past, this future would vanish, and so would these five copycats.

"Say all you want, but in the end, victory will be ours."

Mars let the shield drop and frowned. "I suppose I should stop fooling around, then. Mars Inferno Demon!"

Nergal looked at the tall construct dismissively. "Hmph, that big boy isn't going to harm me."

Mars climbed up the demon's back and sat on its left shoulder. "If you kids really know about our past battles, then you should know we Senshi know how to improvise. Mars Fire Star Immolation!"

"Oh. Shit." Nergal stood there, awed by Mars' new trick. Instead of launching herself at her like last time, she had channeled all her mana into the demon, turning it into a white-hot, massive pyre. From the heat she could feel as the demon's first punch connected, this monster's temperature should be impossibly close to that of the Sun's core. And, of course, the following dozen blows weren't any colder.

"Stop," Mars said sharply as she saw Nergal fall. The Demon growled at her, but then vanished, and Mars landed a mere meter away from her foe. "Now, whatever you have against us, it can be fixed."

"Can it, really?" Nergal said weakly. "I doubt it. I doubt your Queen can bring my whole village back."

It fell into place right then. "I see... Apsu isn't showing you what really happened, is she?"

"Don't call her a liar, you fire witch."

"Bet she never showed you what happened during our last battle."

"Serenity defeated the woman known as Black Lady," Nergal said.

"And before that?"

"... Who cares about what happened before that?"

Mars gave a short growl. "You should. Let me tell you how things worked."

* * *

The fight between Jupiter and Marduk was unlike the others. They were both better at melee, so instead of shooting sparks from afar, they had been trading punches for a few minutes now.

But Jupiter was surprised. This girl's fists hurt a lot, and she was apparently not too hurt by her own blows. "So you kids got an upgrade, huh?"

Marduk smiled as they both leapt away from each other. "Upgrade? No, it's just that Apsu's powers work better inside here."

"A pity that's not going to help you win," Jupiter snapped.

"Hmph, bluffing won't work, Jupiter. So, shall we continue?"

"No," Jupiter said, a split second before something hit Marduk from behind. As Marduk fell, Jupiter looked at her dragon. "See, you're a rookie compared to us, girl. Yes, your raw power is awesome, but you know nothing about tactics, you don't pay attention to your surroundings. You're a lot like me when I was in my teens. You're not going to win."

Marduk leapt up fast, connecting with a jab before Jupiter could react. However, Jupiter grabbed her fist and smiled. "Talk all you want, because I'm going to defeat you."

Jupiter snorted at that. "You're not. Thunder Goddess' Hand."

Marduk screamed in pain as lightning shot through her body. This was far more electricity she could generate, and was far more electricity than her body could handle. Yet Jupiter's attack stopped abruptly, and her foe realized something as she fell down. "Why... Why didn't you just..."

"Kill you?" Jupiter asked. "I know you blame us for whatever happened to you during the war, and I'm not going to make excuses, I know a lot of people must have the same grudge you have against us. "

"... Then you admit you are guilty?"

"I know a few things Serenity _won't_ do, but I frankly don't know one thing she _can't_ do."

"You're lying."

"There's a way to heal your soul, but it's not the way Apsu showed you."

Marduk looked at Jupiter. There was no hostility in the woman's eyes now, but there was no pity, either. She wanted to believe Apsu's way was the only way, but... Was it, really?

* * *

Some would say a battle of speed such as the one Venus and Ishtar was hard to follow, and harder to be a part of. And Nemesis had to admit, the battle was indeed difficult. However, she had perfected one of her skills in the last thousand years, and it was just what she needed for this fight.

She was, literally speaking, shadowing Venus. No matter how fast these two moved, there was always a shadow left, as long as the place they were in had light sources. And her skill let her ride Venus' shadow, and help her by shooting dark blasts at their foe as they both run.

Of course, keeping up with the combat's rythm forced her to focus all her attention into it, and that was sapping her mana fast. But from what she could see, Venus had landed a few critical blows, whilst Ishtar had yet to hit her once.

"Ishtar doesn't like cheaters."

Venus growled. "It's no cheat, it's strategy."

"Strategies are for losers," Ishtar snapped, barely dodging a laser from Venus' palm.

Venus shook her head. "If that's what you think, then you're in for a surprise."

Nemesis noticed something right then. There were several small circles of light on the ground, all around the room. Was this the enemy's doing, or was it Minako?

Venus noticed Ishtar moving to one of the circles and smiled. "I'd watch where I'm stepping if I was you."

"Ishtar's not going to fall for that trick."

"You just did," Venus said. "Light Eruption!"

Nemesis saw the circles shine brighter for a second, then wide, impossibly bright beams of light shot up from each of them. Ishtar was caught by one of them and fled up, her momentum causing her to hit the far wall of the 'room' they were in and fall to the ground in a heap.

"Shit, did I kill her?"

Nemesis took the chance to turn back to her normal form, now that Venus had stopped, and checked on the girl. "No, she's still breathing."

"Good, now how do we get out of here?"

"Can't unless... Ishtar is dead."

Nemesis backed away from the blonde. "We're not going to kill you. "

"Why? Ishtar's your... I'm your enemy."

"You don't have to be," Venus said. "Tell me, why are you fighting us?"

"Ishtar was... I was just a young girl back then, but I remember it all too clearly. Ships attacking my city, fires starting all around us... Mother protected me when our house caught on fire, I remember I fainted from the heat, and when I woke up, I was... I was outside, the house was still burning, and mother was right besides me, but she was..."

Venus looked down as Ishtar sobbed. "What if... If I told you we can bring your mother back?"

"Then it better be true," Ishtar snapped.

Nemesis smiled. "It is true, don't worry."

* * *

Sin was having a hard time fighting her two foes. Even here, in Apsu's domain, fighting two Moon Senshi wasn't an easy task. Still, she was strong enough to match their power, so she only had to wait until her allies were done with Serenity's friends.

"She's strong."

"Been there, mom, but we can defeat her."

"You two? You can barely keep up with me!" Sin snapped.

Neo Moon glared at the girl. "That's because we're holding back. We can't kill someone who's not evil."

"Holding back?" Sin said. "That's a load of crap."

"Is it?" Moon said, before letting her full power out.

"That can't be, you..." Sin unconsciously stepped back. That woman, what was she? Before, she thought defeating her would be easy, but now that she saw the full reach of her powers, how could Apsu hope to defeat something like this?

_'Sin, don't give up. All our allies have been defeated by these monsters, but we can still win.'_

Sin smiled. "Yes, of course... I don't need to fight you, stupid Queen. Farewell, and enjoy your life while it still exists."

"What did she mean by that?" Neo Moon asked.

Serenity frowned. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

The group waiting back in the palace was quite surprised when they saw the others return. Or, they were surprised to see who they had brought along. "Those girls..."

Venus nodded at her daughter. "Don't worry, they're not under Apsu's control anymore."

Nabu knelt before the Queen, and the others followed suit. "We will not follow Apsu's orders, but in return..."

"I know," Serenity said. "Once this war is over, I will grant your wishes."

"Where's Sin?" Ishtar asked as she realized two of them were missing.

"We don't know," Serenity said, "she left before we could defeat her. "

"I know where they are," Pluto said. "And it's not good news."

Neo Pluto was pale. "They've gone that far back in time... But we can't..."

"We'll have to risk it, if anything goes wrong, history will be changed for sure, but if we do nothing, then the result will be the same."

"You two look _scared_," Mars noted, "and I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've seen Pluto like this. Is it that bad?"

"Where are they?" Neo Moon asked.

"Back with the First," Pluto said.

"The First Senshi?" Mercury guessed. "You mean Cognisance and the others..."

"No... The First Serenity, the one that fought against Cygale. Apsu and Sin are going to stop her from becoming a Senshi."

Mercury figured what that meant in a split second. "If that first Serenity never becomes a Senshi, then everything else that happened in our reality will cease to exist."

"Moreso, if that first Serenity is killed," Pluto noted, "then our Serenity will vanish."

"Then forgive my pun, but we've got no time to waste," Venus said.

"What about those four?" Earth asked.

"They will keep their word, as long as we keep ours," Serenity said.

Nabu nodded, then saw the Senshi all vanish. "Think that woman can do it?"

"There's one thing they have that nobody else does," Nergal said, "they've been around for a thousand years without being defeated."

"I hope they can bring Sin and Anshar back," Ishtar said.

"Not talking in third person anymore, are we?" Nabu noted.

"I only did that to piss Apsu off," Ishtar said with a smile.

* * *

"Where are we?"

"This is mankind's dawn," Neo Pluto explained, "we are millions of years ago from our era."

"The planet looks..."

Mercury nodded at Jupiter's remark. "High volcanic activity, one single continent surrounded by water, and if the data I have is correct, the Earth's rotation is around ten percent faster than it will be in our era."

"Visitors, you are finally here."

The Senshi turned to the voice, and most of them were surprised by what they saw. The creature standing there had four arms, a blue-hued scaly skin and large insectoid eyes. "What is..."

"A Val'harrha," Pluto said. "Should've known we couldn't stay unnoticed for too long."

"Val..." Dragon Mercury started, then chuckled. "I see. Another name deformed into a legend."

"They were the original race of this system," Pluto explained, "the ones that created..." She stopped as she realized she could be saying a little too much.

The creature nodded. "Your weapons, which help channelling mana until you grow in power and experience enough to not require them. But we couldn't have done that without the crystal you know as Ginzuishou."

"How do you know..."

"Child, we _created_ your powers. Do you think time and space escape our grasp?"

Pluto nodded. "I see. So you know about everything that must happen in order to..."

"And you being here is one of those things," the creature said, "we know we're destined to create those artifacts, but we couldn't know how to create them until we saw them ourselves. Now we can give humans that power, finally, a power to match that of the Dark One. "

Moon was rather surprised. "So before mankind existed, this planet was yours?"

The creature nodded. "We currently exist along with mankind, but we also know that will come to an end soon. Our race has lived its course, however, and we are not afraid of death itself. Our artifacts will continue to exist forever, and that is enough for us to be at ease."

"So is Serenity already a Senshi?"

"As I said, we needed to have someone with that power, that crystal, in order to replicate it," the creature noted, "and now that you, the hundredth Serenity, are here, then history will be written."

"Wait a damn minute..." Mercury said, her mind trying to make sense of everything. "... This is a little too much to take, even for me. "

Neo Moon was a bit more used to the effects of time travelling. "For our powers to be born, we had to come back here and let them replicate them. I think we've just stepped into the biggest paradox ever."

"But if everything goes as it's written, your race will vanish."

"We know that, and we are ready for what's to come."

"You're not from this system, are you?"

The creature looked at Mercury and smiled. "That is correct, and I'm not surprised you figured it out. We come from one of the First Worlds, a planet near the center of this galaxy. Our world was destroyed due to an unforeseen event, and the few of us who survived travelled the galaxy for a long time, searching for another world to call home. We found this system, where the third planet was perfect for us to live in."

"And then you created the Seeds to expand to all other planets," Mercury guessed.

"That's wrong, we didn't create the Seeds."

"Then who..."

"We don't know. We know they're there, and we know how to activate them, but we can't do such a thing without a working crystal."

"Guys, we're getting sidetracked here," Venus noted. "The history lesson is good and all, but shouldn't we be looking for that Apsu creep?"

"Worry not, for we know when and where she will strike," the creature said.

"But won't that mean she knows too? She can read the timelines, after all," Neo Pluto asked.

"No, because you cannot see what we don't want you to see, at least from the era we live in."

"That explains it," Pluto muttered. "I've tried to find the exact time when Senshi powers were created, but I gave up after not being able to locate that event, even though I had searched for it for decades."

The creature smiled. "You cannot see what is not there."

Mercury chuckled at that, then noticed the two Pluto looking at her quizzically. "Sorry, it's just that it's funny. I don't think the Val'harrha had anything to do with you not being able to find that."

"I realize that now," Pluto muttered, not looking too amused by her mistake.

"Wait one damn minute there," Venus said. "I just realized something. Are you telling me the Senshi powers were created only because we came here?"

The creature shook his head. "No, the Senshi powers weren't created. You have them because you came back here and... Well, come with me and you'll find out the answer."

* * *

The Senshi realized the creature's words weren't quite a request, as they found themselves standing elsewhere. A clearing in the middle of a forest, with some mountains to the north. They saw there was someone else in the clearing with them, a woman.

A woman who looked exactly like their Queen. "Serenity," the creature said, "I'm back, and I brought what I promised."

The woman stood up and walked to the creature. "What is this, Zen'ji? Who are these people?"

"They have a power you can use to defeat the Dark One. Thanks to our mages, the Dark One doesn't know what we're doing, but he will surely notice now."

Serenity picked up a strange, oval artifact and looked at it before muttering something to herself. "These... How can they... Specially the one who looks like me..."

"She's your descendant, Serenity. In her era, she is known as Sailor Moon, and she's almost reached her ultimate level, from what I can see."

"Almost?" Mercury said, mostly to herself. Did this mean there was yet another level beyond Holy?

"So she's got all this power... How did she get it?"

"She got it because you used it first. As for how you can gain such a power yourself, well... Sailor Moon, please summon your crystal." Moon did as told, and the creature nodded. "Now, Serenity, touch that crystal."

"Is it safe?" Serenity asked.

"I won't lie to you, as I never have done so before. The transformation won't be easy, but in the end, you'll gain more power than even the Dark One has."

Serenity didn't hesitate as she heard that last part, and she reached out, touching the crystal. However, she realized Zen'ji had been correct as she felt energy washing over her body. It was like every cell, every atom of her body was suddenly set aflame. No, more like she could feel every elemental of nature washing over her at once.

Moon backed away as Serenity fell to her knees, screaming in pain. "What is going on?"

"You should already know that some of your kin are born with special skills."

Mercury nodded. "Like my ability to understand languages and manipulate technology, Jupiter's physical strength, Venus' speed..."

Zen'ji smiled. "Her special power is one I have never seen in the past, or the future. She will not have to go through training or battling to gain her ultimate power. However... Well, you see it isn't easy for her."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Your part in history is already done," Zen'ji said, "but the ones you came looking for are going to arrive soon. They will want to destroy Serenity before her transformation is complete."

"We won't let that happen."

"I know. I have seen that," Zen'ji said. "Oh, here they are," he added casually, as three figures appeared near them.

"Sin, we know what you're up to."

Sin growled. "Apsu, you messed up again."

"I told you, something in this era has been interferring with my abilities. It is definitely not my fault."

"What you've come to do, it's hopeless," Zen'ji said.

"Can it, alien," Sin snapped. "Serenity, I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to destroy the First."

Anshar looked around. "There's too many of them here."

Apsu nodded. "Yes, I didn't expect this to be the case."

"Guys, protect Serenity," Moon said. "We'll take care of Apsu."

Neo Moon nodded. "Let's do it."

"Hmph, you two girls, always stealing the spotlight," Dragon Mercury joked.

Sin stood in front of Apsu and growled at the two Moons "This will be your final battle, Sailor Moon."

Anshar stood besides Sin. "If we fight together, there's nothing we can't do, right sis?"

Moon looked at the boy, then at Sin. For some reason, Sin's power was increasing, but this wasn't Apsu's power. No, the boy himself had some amazingly high mana reserves. "Be careful, Sin's stronger than last time."

"Isn't it always like that?" Neo Moon mused.

Apsu frowned as she looked at the two Moons. "I think I shall join this battle. We can't get sidetracked by them."

Mercury looked back at the Serenity who was still transforming. She was visibly in pain, but wasn't screaming now. Also, she could see a white Guardian Senshi suit had replaced the plain robe she had been wearing before.

Sin glared at Moon. "Out of my way, little Queen."

"Why can't you see it? Apsu is using you."

"And I'm using her," Sin said, "you are the one who doesn't get it. I want to forget about all this, I want these ten years of pain to vanish. I want a happy life, even if I won't be able to remember it. And I won't stop until I get what I want."

"Let's just knock some sense into her, it usually works."

Moon looked at Neo Moon and sighed. "You may be right."

"Too late for that," Sin snapped. "Now die!"

Apsu reached her hands out at the same time Sin did, and a large dark beam shot out. The two Moons shot their own energy out to counter it, but it only slowed the blast down, and they were both hit.

The resulting explosion wiped out a good section of the forest, and knocked the Senshi out. As they stood up, however, they saw someone was still standing.

Venus gasped. "Moon?"

"No, look at her, that's not Moon... Not our Moon, at least," Mercury said.

True, the two Moons were now staggering up, so the other one was... "Serenity, the First Serenity," Pluto said in awe.

Sin looked at the woman. Serenity... Her suit was different from anything she'd seen before, from anything Apsu had ever shown her. It was a form-fitting white suit with a transluscent, white skirt, the gloves and boots were seemingly fused with the rest of the suit. The symbol of the Moon was drawn on the back of each hand, and for a second she could see seven pairs of wings, seven pairs of wings made of light. As the wings vanished, she saw something else: There was no tiara in Serenity's forehead, but the symbols of all the planets, along with the Moon and Sun. "What is the meaning of this..."

Apsu backed away slowly. "No! This cannot be! Such a power does not exist!"

"It indeed does," Zen'ji said, "this is the true form of the Senshi, their ultimate form. But of course, Serenity has no allies with her, so she's using the power of all the planets right now."

"I can't get a reading," Mercury said to the others, "it's simply amazing, not even our Serenity..."

Sin growled. "Who cares for a little power up? Apsu, let's..." Only then she noticed it. Apsu was now meters away from the two siblings, and she was looking at Serenity with a fear she had never seen in her eyes before. "Lady Apsu, what..."

"Your name is Sin, isn't it?" Serenity said. "Open your eyes, and see the power for yourself."

"Wait!" Moon shouted. "Don't kill her!"

Serenity smiled. "That wasn't my intention at all. She may have been mislead by the monster, but she isn't evil at heart." She turned to look at Apsu and her expresion turned dark. "Any last words, demon?"

"This... This can't be happening, I was meant to destroy you, I was meant to rule everything, I... It's not fair!"

"Pitiful," Serenity said, then turned around. Some of the others were about to ask her why she hadn't attacked, when Apsu's body blew up, the explosion rocking the area. "This power is..."

"You shouldn't overdo it," Zen'ji said, "you are strong, but if you use that level for too long, you may die."

Serenity nodded, and her suit morphed to that of a first level Senshi. "Still, if I do fight him, I may have to use that level to destroy him."

Sin and Anshar looked at the Senshi in shock. Those monsters, how could they have that much power?

Serenity, however, looked at them with kind eyes. "You know, you remind me of my two children. There's power in you, power that could grow strong, if your goal is set right."

"Our goal... Our goal's always been to bring our parents back."

"That can be done," Moon said, "I can do it."

"What... After all we did, after we tried to destroy you all..."

"You will find that, despite everything Apsu may have told you about us, we are quite forgiving," Mars noted.

Serenity was looking at the Senshi with a sad look. "The future... I wish I could see it."

"Someday, you may just be able to," Zen'ji said, "but for now, you have to get ready to fight."

"Of course. Cygale must be destroyed for our two races to live in peace at last."

Zen'ji looked at the Senshi and smiled. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to stay here any longer."

"I... We understand," Moon said. "Pluto, let's get back to our era."

"Of course," Pluto said, and then they all vanished.

Just as the Senshi of the future left, another alien appeared. "Zen'ji, Serenity, Cygale has finally breached through our barrier."

"Then I'm going to greet him."

Zen'ji looked at Serenity. "I'd wish you good luck, but I have already seen the outcome of this battle."

"You never said that," Serenity noted. "Can I win this?"

"You will win," Zen'ji said, "as long as you don't anything rash. But in the end... You may win the war, but you will lose something along with that victory."

"As long as mankind is free of that monster, then I don't care about the consequences. But I have one request to make of you."

"And that is..."

"Take care of my kids for me once I'm gone."

Zen'ji saw the woman walk away and stood there, staring at her in shock. She had guessed what would happen? This woman, Serenity, never stopped surprising him, and that was indeed a good thing.

* * *

Sin was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened the last few days. But there was one thing she now realized: Apsu had lied to them all along. She didn't care about them or their lives, she was using them for her own goals. Using them. Much like the Nemesians had been used by that Wiseman monster.

If this was irony, she hated it. In a way, she had turned into exactly what she hated. But the Senshi... From the outside, they had always seemed so godlike to her, when she was a kid, but they were human. And despite all her group had done, they had been forgiven quite fast. And much despite herself, she realized it was all due to Serenity's influence, the Queen's _request_ that their past as Apsu's soldiers wasn't brought up had been enough for the Senshi to stop mentioning those events.

But now, she and her former allies were living inside the palace. She couldn't complain about the place, really, but this wasn't what she wanted, this wasn't what she and her brother had fought all their life for. And after three days of waiting in here, she was starting to ponder if her dream would ever become true.

"Well then, why don't we go find out?"

Sin almost jumped at that. She hadn't realized Serenity was there, how did this woman manage to... But the woman's words finally set in, and she looked at her, hopefully. "You mean that..."

Serenity nodded lightly. "Your brother and your friends are already on the way there, shall we join them?"

"You... You did it?"

"I promised I would, and I never break a promise," Serenity said.

* * *

It had only taken a split second, and the scenery had changed drastically. She had been standing inside a guest room of the Crystal Palace a moment ago, but now, they were somewhere in the woods surrounding Crystal Tokyo, and she could see a lot of people there. Marduk, Nabu, Ishtar, Nergal, Anshar... She then saw who Anshar was standing next to right now, and froze. "Mom, dad... Is that really..."

Serenity smiled as the girl run to hug her parents. There was a part of her that, much despite herself, felt a bit of envy. But she had, centuries ago, promised her own parents something, and she wouldn't break that promise, no matter how much it hurt.

"They all look happy now, huh?"

Serenity turned to see the Princess there. "Have you decided, about their abilities..."

"Of course, I talked this out with the other Younger Senshi, and they've accepted it."

"Good, it would be a waste for their potential to be left unchecked. By the way, how's Hotaru doing?"

"Still a long way to go, but I think I never saw her this happy before."

"Same could be said about you," Serenity said, "but what about the future..."

"I'm not worried about _that day_," the Princess said, "I'm your spawn, after all, and everyone knows you find a way through everything you face, don't you?"

"Now, Chibi, don't give your mother an ego boost. It's the last thing she needs."

Serenity turned to see Endymion behind her, and stuck her tongue out at him. "You can be such a jerk sometimes, you knew that?"

"Isn't that one of the things you like about me?" Endymion said with a smile.

"Not at all," Serenity said bluntly, but then chuckled. "I think I'll have to punish you for making fun of me."

"Is that a promise?" Endymion teased.

Princess Serenity shook her head at that. Those two, sometimes she just couldn't believe they were a thousand years old.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, the alien's name can be read as "Senshi." You should know I like puns by now.


	13. Chronicles of the last days

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 3: Aeons.**

**Episode 13: Chronicles of the last days.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: March 2, 2009_

* * *

"Reaper's Dance." Saturn smiled to herself. She knew her foe could dodge this attack, but she was using it only to set a trap. She guessed the direction of her foe's jump right, and took a step to the left, tossing her glaive like a spear. "Death Lance."

Her foe, however, had already guessed her intentions, and caught the glaive's blade before it could hit. As she landed, she tossed the weapon aside and grinned. "I think we've been around each other for too long."

Younger Venus, who was looking at them from the side, nodded at the Princess' comment. "It's been fifteen minutes now, and neither of you took a single hit yet."

"Those attacks look scary."

Younger Moon smiled at the youngest (by far) person in the room. "They are dangerous, Kyouko, but we both know we can take a hit from them without much harm done."

Saturn walked to Moon's side and sighed. "Not that it matters, if we can't even hit to begin with."

"Being able to do that kind of things must be cool."

"It's really not that great if you have nothing to fight against," Venus muttered.

"But I want to be a Senshi."

"Be patient, you're still too young," Moon explained.

"But grandma said you became a Senshi when you were as old as me."

"I'll have to _talk_ to your grandmother about saying more than she should, then," Moon mused. "That was an exception, I had to help Serenity defeat a powerful enemy."

Saturn laughed as Kyouko pouted at her 'father.' The girl was as normal as the spawn of any Senshi could be, and despite their choice of a name, she wasn't a problem child. However, unlike previous Senshi children, she wasn't showing any signs of being attuned to an element, and that was something that confused even Ami.

Usagi (the elder) had said Kyouko could just be slower than the rest developing her powers, and Hotaru hoped that was really the case. She knew Kyouko would be really disappointed if she ended up being just a normal girl.

But Kyouko's age was also a sort of beacon for them. In three years, they would be facing the Hunters. After that, she didn't know what else would happen, but she didn't even know if she was going to... No, she couldn't let that knowledge eat at her, she hadn't done it for a thousand years, why start now?

Maybe because the event was closer and closer to her with every passing moment.

"And speaking of the kids, how's the little genius?"

"Hisame's as smart as one could expect, but she's also too young," Moon said. That girl was Ami's daughter, it was a surprise for everyone that she and Terry had decided to give it another go, but it was also a good thing to see they had healed from the damage Takamaru had caused.

* * *

After a millenia of watching over the Earth, of making sure evil was punished everywhere, and of stopping wars, the two had, at last, accomplished their goal. The damage the Black Moon Wars left behind was big, but the planet was recovering. Moreso, thanks to the war, most nations had realized something the Senshi had been trying to teach them for centuries: Fighting over who has the biggest piece of land in your homeworld is worthless, and distracts you from the greater dangers that lurk out there in the Universe.

But that left them with almost nothing to do. The token Lesser Senshi or necromancer would show up every now and then, but it seemed like the centuries of either reforming or atomizing both groups had finally made it clear that any evil human would be stopped.

So, Sailor Uranus and Neptune had finally settled down, living in Crystal Tokyo and becoming utterly bored of it after only a few years.

"Maybe we should try it."

That took Michiru off her brooding. "Try what?"

"What the Princess and Hotaru did."

"Hmm, I wonder if Serenity would lend us her crystal only for that," Michiru mused.

"So, you're okay with the idea?"

"It had crossed my mind a few times," she admitted, "but I would like to wait a few years. We can't be sure we're going to be there after those bastards come to play."

"I doubt the Princess would be raising a child without having a plan for that battle."

"Maybe that's true, but I don't know... I've got a feeling she's still not sure on how to solve this mess."

* * *

"If you'll forgive my language, it's _fucking cold_ in here."

Younger Pluto chuckled at that. "I have to agree on that, so let's make this fast. Follow me."

Moon took a quick glance around the planet and followed Pluto's teleport to a mountain a few miles to the north of the place they had first landed. The Seed was there, although it was buried under a dense layer of ice. "I don't think we'll last too much," she noted, then concentrated. "There, mana's flowing again."

"I can sense that," Younger Pluto said, "now it's my turn."

Moon observed as Pluto concentrated. As soon as she heard the familiar energy of the Seed, she smiled. "Alright, your planet's nice and all, but I think we should leave now and come back once that thing's done with the terraforming."

"Indeed," Pluto said, "but it's good to finally be able to see what this world looked like in the past."

"And this is the last one, too," Moon said. Finally, the mission she had started almost one thousand years ago was complete. And with one year of time to spare before _that day_.

* * *

"It must be rather hard for you."

Hotaru looked up from the book she was holding. She hadn't been reading it, really, and she hated how Usagi could tell that. "What do you mean?"

"Juggling your time between Kyouko and me and... Well, me. My younger self."

Hotaru smiled. "It's not difficult at all. At first I thought it would be, but..." She looked at her. "I thought you would be... Jealous."

Usagi gave a soft laugh at that. "I would be rather dumb if I was jealous of myself. Besides, I can remember what we were doing during this era, you pervert, and I don't really mind."

"Color me guilty," Hotaru said. "But that's not what I'm worried about, I'm..."

"I know," Usagi admitted. "I'm worried myself, because I can't see the solution to that."

"If anything goes wrong..."

"Nothing will."

"So you say, and I trust you, but we know better than that, don't we? Just take care of Kyouko for me."

Usagi nodded. "You don't have to tell me that." Deep inside, however, she knew she wouldn't fail. She couldn't fail. The solution to what was going to happen was there, she just needed to find it.

* * *

Later that day, Usagi found herself back in the base. They kept on moving from place to place, and nowadays, their base was deep within Pluto. Mankind, while surely getting ready to colonize even this world, wasn't so sure about it being a place they could tame.

While the other worlds had changed, becoming far more friendly to human life, Pluto hadn't changed much. Temperature had risen, of course, but it was still low enough to freeze most life forms in a matter of seconds. Deep under the surface, however, things weren't that bad, thanks to the remnants of an ancient city.

Pluto (the Senshi) had known all along, of course, but she hadn't told them about it. Pluto's former inhabitants had never been surface dwellers. No, the planet was effectively a dead world, where only the most resilent, microscopical creatures could dare living. But the cities, the underground cities, were kept warm and isolated from the outside by the Seed's magic. And most of these cities were relatively intact, allowing for colonization.

Though, for the time being, the Younger Senshi were happy to have a world all for themselves. Being in their position did definitely have some good things.

"Hey, mom, look."

Usagi turned to see Kyouko standing there, which wasn't strange at all, but then she noticed what was standing besides her. "That's nice."

Kyouko looked at the wraith and smiled. "I can do this, too," she said, and the wraith started moving.

Usagi frowned as the wraith passed too close to her face. "Be careful with them, you know what they're meant for, right?"

The young girl blinked in confusion, and the wraith vanished. "Nope."

"Well, these creatures are meant to drain other creatures off their vital energy. You have to be very careful with them, until you learn to control them."

"So they're dangerous?"

"If you're not trained to use them, they could be," Usagi admitted, "but that's what you have your moms for, right."

Kyouko smiled. "Thanks."

"I'm wondering, though, can't you use other kind of magic?"

Kyouko shook her head. "I can heal myself, and now these things..."

"Wraiths," Usagi noted.

"Wraiths? Weird name."

"It is, isn't it? I know Hotaru will be surprised when she sees you doing that."

"But couldn't I hurt her with that..."

"She can summon a hundred of them at once," Usagi explained, "trust me, you couldn't really hurt us with that magic, but... Normal humans could be hurt."

"So, am I a Senshi now?"

Usagi chucked at that. "Not just yet, Kyouko, but trust me, you will be Younger Saturn someday."

* * *

Serenity stared out at the city from the topmost spire. It was a place she enjoyed spending time in, specially in calm nights like this one.

Not that there were many stormy nights, or days at that, thanks to one of Ami's most recent experiments. Inside the limits of Crystal Tokyo, weather was controlled by computers, fed with data on crops and other things Serenity herself didn't quite understand. The end result was, if it came down to it, they could make it so it only rained in the farms north-east of the city. But man was a creature of habit, too used to rain and snow, no matter how much they would complain about it when it came. So the computers would make it rain when they saw it fit, and would replace rain for snow when winter came.

But, unlike the centuries before, there was no randomness about it. When the day was going to be rainy, every newspaper in the city, ever radio and TV station, warned the citizens about it in advance. It took away part of the 'magic' of weather, but Serenity herself didn't see it as a bad thing. And once it was sufficiently tested within the city, it could be presented to the world. Other nations might or might not accept their gifts, but that was not a thing she worried about.

One year, that's what the Princess had said. One year left before that day, and then they would no longer know what the future had in stock for them. She would welcome that, she truly would. And she knew a few of her friends saw it the same way.

* * *

"I'm leaving," Hotaru said, her face emotionless.

Usagi looked at her, trying to hide her feelings as well as she could, and knowing it was helpless at the same time. "Then I guess I'll see you later."

The year had passed like a flash to her. It was bad, really, that there was nothing out there to fight anymore. Well, there had been that one gang of magicians in Mercury, but they were dealt with swiftly, almost too swiftly.

A part of her wondered about what Rex had said. It was strange, she hadn't given it a lot of thought in the last thousand years, so why think about it now? It was easy to guess, the Hunters were coming back, and so were the memories of that epoque. But also, it was a fact: The Senshi had nothing to fight against. Their life was dull and repetitive, and had been like that for years now.

No, she couldn't think like that. She knew her friends, she had been with them for too long not to know they didn't have it in them. No matter what, there was no way they would do something like that. They were, fortunately or unfortunately, too old now to change their views on life.

"Where's mom?"

Usagi turned to the girl. She could understand what the others had told her about kids now, they grew up way too fast. Kyouko was almost ten years old, and was now in full control of life magic. Weak life magic, not even close to the level of a newbie Senshi, but she had no doubt Kyouko would be Younger Saturn soon. Or Younger Younger Moon. Maybe ChibiChibiMoon? No, that sounded too dumb for a battle name, even to the one who had a similar name in the past. But she knew the girl was staring at her curiously. "Hotaru is visiting a friend, she will be back later."

"Oh... Mom, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"What about?" Usagi was glad to have something to take her mind out of the problem she would be facing in a few hours.

"I've seen the Princess, you know. The Princess who looks a lot like you. She's... She's not your sister, right?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because she's been a Senshi for long, but she's not much older than me," Kyouko said simply.

"... And I've told you I was the exception to the rule," Usagi said, mostly to herself.

"It doesn't make sense, unless she is..."

"She is me," Usagi admitted, "I was going to tell you about it eventually, because you would be curious as to where she had gone."

"Where she..." Kyouko looked at her mother, her confusion growing.

"Today's the day, so I see no harm in telling you this now. That young Princess is me, I was born in this era, but I was forced to go back to the past and stay there thanks to something that will happen today. Something I intend to fix today."

"What will happen?" Kyouko asked. She was just curious, Usagi knew that, but damn her curiousity for showing up right now.

"I can't tell you that yet," Usagi said, "not until I do what I'm meant to do today." _If_ she found out what she was meant to do today, a voice in her mind said. She promptly told it to shut up.

"I think I understand," Kyouko said. "Is mom going to be okay?"

"Yes, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her." Usagi knew Kyouko was too smart for her age, but she was proud of that fact. "But now, let's go, your friend Hisame is here too."

"She's here at the base?" Kyouko asked. "Maybe this day won't be as boring as I thought, after all."

Yes, indeed, Usagi thought, this day would be anything but boring.

* * *

Moon was, hours later, staring at a large screen floating in mid-air. The rest of the Younger Senshi group was there, she had requested them to be there, actually, but most of them would have been there even if she hadn't told them. None of them could be on Earth right now. None of them was a hundred percent sure they would not try to stop what was about to happen if they remained on Earth today.

And all of them were looking at that same screen, which showed things they had only heard about. To Moon herself, however, this was like watching a fragment of her own life pass in front of her eyes. A memory being shown to her in a way she hadn't seen it before. A painful memory, but one that she dared not stop from happening.

Knowledge of the future, some humans said, would be a wonderful tool to have, a bliss. How little did they know about it, and how much she hated the universe right now for giving her that knowledge.

"Here they come!"

That was Elder Mars, and her shout only signaled the beginning of a battle she didn't want to replay, but she could not force her eyes off the screen right now. If she did, she knew she would go there and do something stupid.

"Girls, whatever you see in there, don't do anything about it."

"We know," Younger Mars said, "don't you trust us?"

"Venus Light Comet!" the screen shouted at them.

"This isn't about trust," Moon said, "this is about knowing what people can do in this kind of situations, and I've seen my fair share of that."

But then, it happened. If she hadn't been looking at the screen, she would have still felt it. It was very hard to explain, but when someone close to them died, the Senshi could _feel_ their death. in their minds. That was the one thing she had been half-hoping, despite how unlikely it was, that they had been all faking their deaths, and that she, being as young and inexperienced as she was, had not known. But no, there was no mistake. Hotaru was gone. Hotaru!

Younger Venus noticed something and paled as the whole room started rocking. "Usagi, get a hold of yourself!"

Moon knew it, for a moment she had lost control of her own power, and several tendrils of energy had shot, in all directions. Had the base not been magically reinforced as it was, then there wouldn't only be cracks on the wall. Any normal building would, after her outburst, be literally ashes. "I... Sorry about that."

"Nothing to be sorry about, we understand," Younger Nemesis said, "but you can fix it, right?"

"Of course," Moon lied. No, it wasn't a complete lie. She had a way to fix this, but... Even now, even watching Saturn die, she couldn't figure it out. And she felt all the worse because of that.

"Shit... They're starting to fall," Younger Lilith commented.

Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, she was now seeing it, seeing it from the outside, what she had seen before, when she was young. There was something wrong with the way they were fighting, something she, in her younger form, hadn't been able to realize. "They are... They're letting the Hunters kill them."

"You didn't know they would do that?"

Moon fell to her knees. This... Why give up without a fight? To save the future? Still, she knew there was no way, no way at all, that they would have lost if they had fought all out. But then, that meant...

"There goes your younger self," Younger Mars said as the young ChibiMoon disappeared from the screen.

Moon looked up. Endymion, Serenity and Pluto were good actors, and they really made it look like they were struggling to keep on. Rex himself was the one to kill all three, and that, for some reason, made her killing him in the past somehow fitting. But there they were, they were gone now...

"Can we go kill them?" Nemesis asked, obviously struggling not to do just that.

"No, let them leave," Moon said. Vulture was examining Pluto's corpse now, and he could see him smile and run to tell Rex about his discovery. "Only a minute more, I think."

"So, after they're gone, you're going to go revive them, right?"

Moon sighed. She couldn't lie to them, not now. "I will go and try. I'm not sure how I will do it."

"What you mean you don't know?" Venus asked, her voice turning into a snarl with the last few words, and her body lighting up.

"Hikaru, calm the heck up," Hisako snapped. "I'm quite upset too, but..."

"No, she's right, I'm as upset at myself as she is, because I don't know how to bring them back yet." She looked at the screen. The Hunters were gone, gone to the past. It was over.

No, it wasn't over, not until she fixed this. She had promised herself, a thousand years ago, that she would find a way to fix this. And, much more important, she had promised her daughter that Hotaru would be okay, and she couldn't break that promise. She wouldn't break it.

"But how can you not know... You are... You are Sailor Moon too!" Younger Lilith said, her face showing she was as shocked at the others, even though her voice seemed calm.

"I am..." Moon looked at her and her eyes widened. "Of course, how didn't I see it before..."

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

"No, not that. I'm not only Sailor Moon. I'm Serenity. And Serenity revived everyone after..." She looked at the others and smiled. "I know what to do."

As Moon vanished, the others stared at the point where she had been. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and hope she's right," Venus said.

"Like hell I'll wait," Nemesis said, "let's go."

* * *

Moon appeared in the battlefield, and for a moment she felt quite sick as she took a look around. But no, she couldn't afford to lose control now. She had to focus into what she knew, she had to see if her guess was right. If she was wrong, however, then... No! She couldn't be wrong, not this time. She closed her eyes and summoned her crystal, 'talking' to it in a way only she and her mother knew, and 'hearing' its response in her mind. "Only once... But it's okay, I only need you to do it once."

She was aware of the others, the rest of the Younger Senshi, were there with her. Even Younger Pluto, who had been in the Time Gates, and who, now she could see, was the one who had temporarily sealed off the time tunnels connecting to this era. But she didn't care, they too needed to be here.

"So, boss, what are you going to do now?"

"Simple, I'm going to bring them back," Moon said, a second before her body, and the area just around her, lit up with a blinding white light. It only lasted a few seconds, and as the light dimmed, Moon fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Damn, did she fail?"

"She did what she had to do."

The Youngers all looked up, and they were all shocked. Happily shocked, though, and many of them run to hug their parents. Saturn looked at Younger Pluto and smiled. "I take it you were the one blocking us, in the past."

"Yes, that's a very good guess," Saki said.

Saturn looked at Moon and smiled. "She really did it, huh? I must admit I had my doubts, but she didn't fail us."

"Think she knows it worked?" Younger Venus asked.

Saturn looked at Moon, who was smiling in her sleep, and nodded. "Yes, she knows."

* * *

Boring, extremely boring. These creatures had, at first, been a constant source of entertainment for him, but in this era... How could they be so... So damn unamusing? It seemed like it was time for him to finally meddle in their matters. He would show them what a power like his could do. The bird's cage was too quiet, and he knew just what kind of snake to throw in to make things interesting.

Why do something like that, why be cruel to these creatures who had done nothing to anger him? Well, it wasn't that he was angry at them, no. They were too primitive for him to bother wasting things like anger on them. No, the truth was, he was bored. He had always been bored. And if, to amuse himself, he had to destroy a planet or two, then that was a fair exchange.

Now, then, where had he last seen that one being? Oh, there she was. Perfect. He just had to wait for them to settle, to adjust to their boring life, and then... Then things would become interesting.

* * *

**A/N:** I had this episode planned for a long time (before I started this version of Cyber Moon, even,) but for some reason, it was a difficult one to write even then. It came out shorter than I expected, too, but it does what it was meant to do.

As for the new brats in town, Kyou stands for 'wicked' though with a different kanji it could also mean disaster. As for Hisame, it's literally 'cold rain' or 'hail.'

And yes, that final scene's just the tip of the massive trouble the Senshi will be in very soon.


	14. Ancient evil

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 3: Aeons.**

**Episode 14: Ancient evil.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: March 11, 2009_

* * *

A blast of lightning hissed by, barely missing her head. She turned to the source and coldy glared at the creature. "Death Lance." As the creature doubled over, its chest pierced by a beam of focused death magic, she scanned the area. Three more of them, all within blast range, if she used something she had yet to test in battle. "Deadly Halo."

A ring of death shot from her, blasting through the three creatures, which exploded before even touching the ground, and doing a fair damage to the already wrecked buildings in the area. She fell to her knees, noticing the buildings around her were disappearing, and sighed in relief. Hotaru and Usagi walked to her, in the now empty, large gray room. It was an amazing technology, she couldn't tell the destroyed city she had been fighting in a few seconds earlier was just a magical construct. "I'm a weakling, I guess."

"You're not," Hotaru said. "That magic you used is strong, I admit it's nothing like what we can use, but you're progressing fast, Kyouko."

Younger Saturn looked up at her mother and smiled. "Thanks."

"I'm just telling you how things go. Your dear mother here," Hotaru said, nodding at Usagi, "might have been a Senshi at six, but she was quite a lousy one until she was twelve or so."

Usagi shot Hotaru a side glare. "Don't make me shut you up."

"You know I'm right," Hotaru countered, then turned back to their daughter. "You're not weak, right now. Guardian level attacks aren't something I'll call weak."

"But compared to you..."

Usagi shook her head at that. "Don't compare yourself to us. We have a thousand years more experience than you, of course we will have the upper hand."

Hotaru smiled. It was a good thing their daughter wasn't like the former Younger Senshi to share part of her power. No, she wasn't evil, but there was one thing they had realized about her, she was a 'born warrior,' like her mother. She wanted to be stronger, but for the right reasons.

Kyouko was sixteen now. Sixteen! Years passed by now at a speed she didn't bother calculating. Her daughter was almost an adult now, and she knew anytime now she would start chasing after guys... Or girls.

Kyouko had first activated her Senshi powers when she was eleven. Also, that was the day her own Ginzuishou appeared, though hadn't really used it much, other than to power up her attacks. By Ami's estimates, Kyouko could reach Holy level before she turned twenty, but Hotaru wasn't so sure about that. Kyouko didn't have anyone to fight against, no evil forces, nothing that would _force_ her to level up.

And even Usagi, much to her own chagrin, couldn't go 'all out' against her own daughter. Maternal instinct had knocked all the warrior instincts out of her whenever she had tried to do just that.

So the best they could do was bring her to the virtual reality room in the Crystal Palace, but that place had a flaw. While yes, technically you could die in here, the power of the creatures created by any combat simulator was directly linked to the power intake needed by the room to create them. To create anything that could hold its ground against even a Guardian Senshi, the room had to use as much mana and electricity as the whole city would use for a whole day. Creating a monster as strong as a Holy Senshi would, by Elder Mercury's calculations, take as much energy as what the whole _country_ spent in one week.

It just wasn't worth it, really, so the room had mostly became a curiosity for visitors. The Senshi themselves didn't use it much, in fact this was the first time the room had been used in two years.

It had seemed strange, at first, that Kyouko only used death magic, and Hotaru had pointed that out to Usagi. But Usagi had answered with something that Hotaru herself had never realized. She had, indeed, been too _used_ to see Chibi (a nickname that she still used, at times,) use only 'lunar magic.' She had never realized that, in fact, Usagi Tsukino the second had been born from a Moon Senshi and an Earth Senshi. Yet, the only way the pink-haired girl had to use rocks as attacks, was to lift them up with her own hands and toss them at the enemy.

"Hello? Earth to Hotaru?"

"Sorry, I got distracted," Hotaru said turning to Kyouko.

"I was asking you two about those 'special' powers..."

"Don't bother," Usagi said, "none of the Younger Senshi has been born with anything like that. Well, I have my extremely weak psichic senses, but that's it. And even with the Elders, only those we normally call 'Inner Senshi' have that kind of traits. Well, Hotaru here has her own kind of teleportation, but that's also an unique trait."

"That's unfair."

"That's just life," Usagi noted, "but you have something most other Senshi don't have, a Ginzuishou. Even Earth's crystal doesn't come any close to it when it comes to raw power."

"I don't know, I've only been able to have it improve my attacks. Maybe it's broken?"

Usagi frowned. "Can you summon it?"

Kyouko reached out her hand, and the crystal was there. It was something all the Senshi knew how to do, items they used in combat (even their suits) were turned into raw magic once unsummoned, and turned solid again once they summoned them mentally. How it worked was something not even Ami and Terry had yet figured out, but she wasn't worried about that. It worked, she knew it worked, and she used it.

Usagi picked the small crystal and looked at it. "No, the crystal is fine. I guess it's time you learn how to use it."

"You'll teach me?"

"Of course. I think I'm the only one who can teach you right now."

"One thing I've noticed about you two," Kyouko said looking at her two mothers in turn. "I've seen your battles of the past, they're easy enough to find in the archives. You don't ever tell the other what you will do next, and yet..."

"And yet, we always seem to know what the other's thinking," Hotaru completed for her. "That's something we got thanks to our relationship. After so many years fighting side by side, we just don't need to talk to know what either one of us is going to do next. "

"That's awesome."

Usagi smiled. "Nah, it just means I've been around this old woman for too long."

* * *

Meanwhile, a few dozen meters above them, someone was talking to the Queen. Someone who was rarely seen outside her post, and who, to most of mankind, didn't even exist.

"Despite how much I would wish for this to be a social visit, I know better than that," Serenity said. "So, Saki, tell me what your visit is about."

Saki looked around. "Is it safe to speak here?"

"As safe as ever," Serenity said, looking around the room she had centuries ago designated as her private meeting room. "The guards just outside this door, even if they were to overhear anything, are being paid to forget whatever it might be."

"That's good enough," Saki said. "There's an unkown danger out there, mother sensed its energy."

'Unknown' and 'out there,' both of those terms seemed alien to Serenity when said by this girl "what do you mean by 'out there'? Outside of our system? Of our galaxy?"

"Outside of our universe," Saki said, "outside of any known universe, in fact."

"You mean, like Apsu?"

"No, Apsu was acting from..." she seemed to look for the correct term, and in the end, decided for one Elder Mercury had used more than once, "... a pocket dimension. It was still part of our universe."

"In that case, you mean there's something beyond what we have seen. A place that doesn't belong to any universe..."

"Mother is investigating the matter right now."

"Alone?"

"She's the only one that's ever been _there_ before, and someone had to stay behind and warn you, in case she didn't come back."

Now Serenity understood why Saki was really here. "And she's not been gone for only a few hours, or even a day, is she?"

Saki looked down. "She's been gone for a week now, and hasn't contacted me."

Serenity's face turned serious at once. "Let's not jump to conclusions, I take it you haven't felt anything..."

"She's alive, of that much I can be sure."

"And do you have a mean to get to that... Place?"

"I should have, I'm Sailor Pluto too," Saki said, visibly upset by that fact. "Unfortunately, she's never taught me how to go there, and it's not just like 'going' somewhere, from what little I understood of it."

Serenity shook her head. "I think only two persons in this city may be able to understand what you're trying to explain. I'll call them right away." Well, actually three people, but she didn't want to tell the Princess about this just yet. Not until they knew where Pluto was.

* * *

Of course, said couple was always interested in new information about what they called 'multiverse.' They listened to Saki's explanation (and so did Serenity, but the Queen didn't quite know what half of it mean,) and then the room fell silent for a minute.

At last, Ami nodded. "Hyperspace, that's where Pluto is."

Serenity knew she had heard the term before, back when she herself was a writer. A pity she had abandoned that when she became what she was now. But she was getting sidetracked. "Hyperspace? Like when ships travel real fast in science fiction?"

"The term can be used also for something that's beyond space, beyond our universe," Ami said, "and since we lack a name for it, that will do... Anyhow, think of it as the area which surrounds all our universes."

Serenity tried to imagine something like that. "Right. And Pluto is there." "So, how do we get there?"

Ami looked at Saki in surprise. "You don't know?"

"Mother never told me about that place until a week ago, and never taught me how to get there."

"That seems unlike her, to not foresee that she could end up falling into a trap, and us unable to reach her," Terry noted.

"Unless..." Ami started.

"Unless I knew I was in no immediate danger by going there," Pluto, who appeared as suddenly as she usually did, said.

Saki stood up from the couch she had been sitting on. "I was worried. "

"I can't blame you for that," Pluto said. "However, I must admit my little scouting was for naught."

"You didn't find anything out of place?"

"I didn't find anything at all there," Pluto said, "whatever it was that I felt, was gone by the time I reached it."

"So why did you take a week to get back?" Saki asked.

"Time passes differently in there. For you, it was a week, for me, only a few hours."

"So it was nothing after all?" Serenity asked.

"No, I wouldn't say 'nothing,' I found traces of a strange energy, something I haven't seen before. So someone, or something, was there. "

"Then we should be careful. Whatever it was..."

"I see no reason for it to hide from me," Pluto noted, "it may mean that the creature is just prodding, scouting us like I scouted its home."

"Curious superbeings," Terry mused, "with no evil intent at all?"

"Of that, I can't be sure," Pluto said, "we would have to face whatever creature it is that's lurking outside, and I can easily guess it can see us coming and hide like it did before."

"You've been to some other universes like ours," Terry said, looking at Pluto. It wasn't a question, since Pluto herself had told them that in the past. "So, you must have encountered worlds where teleporters such as the one I once field-tested were created."

"Whatever happened to those..." Ami started, then stopped and looked upset. She had never thought about those teleporters after the journey they went through, or, at least, after they used them to eliminate the Kh'Sun threat.

"Long story short, the risk of what happened to us happening to someone else wasn't small enough to ignore," Terry said, "so dad discontinued the project. They are the base of interplanetary teleporters, however."

Pluto smiled. "I know what you're going to ask," she said to Terry, "you're going to tell me to give you this." And with that, she reached her hand out, a single watch resting in it.

"But how did you get that?" Serenity asked.

"Never pondered why those two alternate Senshi never came to visit?" Pluto asked with a small smile.

"You didn't trust them," Terry guessed, "so you took that away from them. But what about the schematics..."

"Gone as well," Pluto said, "whatever happened in that world after we left, it was none of our business, and I couldn't risk leaving such a threat unchecked out of trust."

Terry looked at the watch. "A thousand years ago, I wouldn't know what to do with this, but nowadays, things are different."

Ami nodded. "We could, in theory, adapt it to travel to Hyperspace. "

"Hyperspace?" Pluto let out a laugh. "That's one of the best names I've heard for it. There's other universes out there, and in some, there's legends of a place like the one I've been on, a place 'outside any other place,' a place 'you can't reach by any known means.' That last bit, at least, is wrong."

Ami was busy checking her computer. No typing required, as usual, and that was a good thing, because she could check the archives as fast as she could think. "_Terra Ultima_," she finally said, "there's a record of such a legend in Silver Millenium, of the Terra Ultima. Best translation I can give is 'the final land,' or the 'land at the end of all.' Some people believed a godlike creature lived there. Not a fake god like Metallia or Wiseman, or even that Pharaoh monster... But in a more literal sense of the word, a being who couldn't die and who couldn't be destroyed, or even harmed."

"And he created us to his image?" Terry mused.

"I wouldn't discard that. But Pluto, if such a being was there all along, why could you only sense him now?"

"Because what he's doing now, whatever it is, may affect us. Or because he didn't want to be detected before. Can be one of those two, or both."

"Is 'he' evil?"

"I don't know," Pluto said, "wish I knew, but I've never been a religious person, I simply ignored religious beliefs in favor of what I knew as a fact."

"Well, they might have been right after all, at least partially right," Terry said, "where's a priest when you need one?"

Serenity shook her head at that. Same old Terry. "Setsuna, can't you look forwards in time and see what he's up to?"

"I've tried already," Pluto said, "the future's clouded, I can't see anything. There's only three entities I know that could do that. " She looked at Saki "Me, my daughter, or you yourself, Serenity."

Serenity cringed. "But why would any of us do something like that?"

"Unfortunately, we can't know that that until we get there," Saki said. "However, mother, a being of such power as a god..."

"Yes, of course, it may be that this 'god' we face doesn't want us to have foresight on things."

Terry shook his head and stood up. "Then let it be that way."

Ami looked at him, shocked. "Terry?"

"We've been living on a constant wait for the future for a freaking millenia already. If this god, demon or whatever it is wants us to stay unaware of what's going to happen, then I personally won't mind. "

Serenity flinched as Terry left the room. "He's right."

"You're just going to let things come to you?" Ami asked.

"What else can we do?" Serenity asked back. "Send Pluto on a wild goose chase? If that being is as powerful as we think, and doesn't want to be found, then we'll never find it. And how big is that... Hyperspace?"

"Again, hard to explain. Our universe is believed to be infinite, and that is quite a close guess on its size. It could take us millions of years to get to the closest 'border' of our universe right now, if we had ships that could travel at many times the speed of light."

"Which we don't," Ami admitted.

"Now this 'Hyperspace' we're talking about... It contains a seemingly infinite number of universes like ours. And those seem to only take a small portion of that place."

"In short, it's so large, it would take us trillions of years to explore it all?"

"That sums it up quite nicely," Pluto admitted.

"I'm not agreeing with you two here. We've never been like that, have we? Waiting for an enemy to..."

Serenity let out a sigh. "Ami, please, you know better than that. That's how things went with us in the past, and we always won in the end."

"That may be truth, and an optimistic way of thinking," Ami agreed, "but don't mind me if I don't share your optimism this time around. "

As Ami left the room, Serenity looked at the two Plutos. "Keep me informed of anything you sense. I don't want that creature to take us by surprise."

* * *

'That creature'? How rude of such an inferior being to be speaking of him like that. But still, he knew ignorant, weak beings didn't mean to be rude, it was just their own primitive way of thinking. Anyhow, he just couldn't afford to wait any longer, he was just too bored to wait. "It is time for you to go."

"Why can't I just kill them?"

"Because that would ruin my fun. And you know what I did for you. If you can't make things fun for me, I will just undo it."

"Let me say it clearly, then, that I don't think this is a good idea. They beat me, as much as I hate to admit it, a millenia ago, and from what I can sense, there's more of them now, and they've become stronger."

"What you think is none of my concern, I want you to entertain me, or else you're going back to the place you were before. And keep this in mind, woman, I created you."

"Wiseman did, but the loser is dead."

"Wiseman? Fool, Wiseman created the original, yes, a mere parasite inside a young girl, meant to corrupt her mind and turn her into his slave. That was his style, no doubt about it."

"The original? But I am..."

"You were made to believe you always existed within the younger Moon Senshi. I created you with such a delusion, but I don't care about keeping the act anymore. You were created to entertain me, and you did the job quite well until Serenity defeated you."

"Created to entertain you?" That was it. "Cut the crap!" the woman shouted, unleashing a wave of energy so powerful, it would have been able to destroy a large planet easily. Still, her target stood there, unmovable, unamused, and unharmed. Well, not unamused, since he smiled at her as the attack died out. "There's no way in hell anyone would survive that."

"I must admit, that was fun," the creature said, "I didn't think you would dare attacking me, but I also don't mind. Such is your mindset, I know it well."

"You bastard!" Black Lady caught herself just before sending another wave at him. No, it was useless, this creature... If it was true that he had created her, and she had no reason not to believe that right now, then he could also end her existance anytime he chose to. An image came to her, of Aurite's body exploding right in front of her eyes, and she paled. "I understand, I shall do as you command. "

The creature nodded. "Go."

Black Lady smiled inwards. Of course, she would do as he commanded, but only until she found a way to destroy him and finally be free. What she didn't know, however, is that he already knew of her intentions. He had created her, after all, but he didn't find her feelings towards him troublesome. No, that bloodlust, that ego, is what he was counting on to make things far more interesting.

* * *

Europa. Once a deserted satellite, now one of the many worlds that formed the Jovian System. Jupiter itself was being colonized, with the moons serving mostly as outposts. Only a few of the moons had a Seed, but that was no surprise, as the same had happened in many other satellites. However, this wasn't related to their size, but to the mana reserves they had. And Europa, Younger Saturn realized, had mana to spare.

Only problem she saw with this world, was that the atmosphere was a bit too thin, and when compared to the Earth, it had barely any oxygen at all. Of course, those who had lived here for decades were used to it, and she could easily ignore it too. Being a Senshi had many advantages, one of them being her ability to survive even where there was no oxygen at all.

This was the second time she was on her own. In the past, one of her mothers would usually be around to look after her, but she was old (and poweful) enough to fend off for herself, unless some insanely strong creature showed up... And the last of such creatures had been dealt with before she was born.

She was only a couple miles away from the capital of Europa, walking through a field of flowers she had never seen before. She had heard the others, even some of the youngers, talking about a time when the Earth was the only world populated by humans, and the only world with native plants and animals. All that, to her, sounded too strange to be true, but after watching several records of the Pre-Magic era (a name that she found fitting,) she couldn't help but wonder how things were back then. And she knew she would have loved to be in such an era, when enemies stronger than the last showed up constantly.

She was a Senshi, she was a warrior, but a warrior who had no enemies at all. She was growing tired of it, wasn't there anything out there in the universe strong enough to be a challenge? The universe itself, or maybe those in charge, had a strange sense of humor. Her mother had told her that several times, but she had never understood the meaning of that phrase.

"Well, well, I guess I found what I was looking for."

Or to be correct, she had never understood the meaning of that phrase, until now.

Standing there was someone she could have easily mistaken for her mother. The same hair color (Kyouko's being a darker shade of pink,) the same eyes, the same face. Only things giving away the difference were the suit and the way she was looking at her. "You are..."

"Black Lady, yes, that's me."

"But how? Serenity banished you, you couldn't have returned on your own."

"That much is true," Black Lady admitted, still studying the girl. This girl had the same energy as the one she knew as ChibiMoon, but also... "Out of curiosity, who's your father?"

"Father?" Kyouko shrugged. "Who said I had one?"

"But your mother is... Usagi?"

"Usagi and Hotaru," Kyouko said.

Black Lady stood frozen for a few seconds, then burst in laughter. "I wasn't informed of that. Seems her crystal's capable of way more than I thought."

"It sure is. Listen, I can guess what you're back for, but you shouldn't bother. They're way stronger than they were a thousand years ago."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Then why aren't you in Crystal Tokyo? Are you afraid?"

Black Lady glared at the girl. "I was looking for that bitch, to kill her first, but I guess..." she paused for a few seconds, then smiled. "... killing her daughter first will be priceless."

Kyouko smiled at her. "If that's a challenge, you're on." Her clothes were replaced by her Senshi suit, and she reached a hand out. "Death Lance."

The woman stood there, looking at the incoming death blast dismissively. "If I wasn't able to sense the nature of your powers, I wouldn't believe such a weakling as you is her daughter." The blast hit, but she didn't even flinch. "You should use some real power, otherwise this will be a boring fight."

"Sorry, I'm Younger Saturn, not Moon," the girl snapped and aimed both hands at her foe. "Poison Mist."

That was a new one for Black Lady. It wasn't exactly death magic, it seemed more like a mix of both energies. And the result was a foul cloud of a sickly green color. Although she was barely affected by it, Black Lady still walked out of it as fast as she could. "That was impressive, I admit. But I'll have to send it back your way. Dark Poison Mist."

Saturn was suddenly surrounded by a dark, thick cloud. She could hardly breathe, this attack was stronger than her own. If she couldn't get out of the cloud fast, she could... Her thoughts were interrupted by a hit to her midsection, which sent her flying back and out of there. "What was that..."

"One of my many talents is copying my enemies' attacks," Black Lady explained. "But I couldn't let you die with that, I want to kill you with my own attack."

"You won't kill anyone, bitch!"

Black Lady knew that voice, and for a split second, she considered turning around and mocking her. But, she realized, she couldn't move. "You loser, what are you here for?"

"Loser?" Hana laughed at that. "I admit last time I fought you, I was weak. But while most of the Senshi didn't train much in the last thousand years, I've been training whenever I could. As you see, not even you can escape my mind's power now."

"Keeping me in place will only help you until you run out of juice," Black Lady snapped.

"Oh, that's quite right. And I'm sure you remember how I used to be, I could only let a minimal part of my power out, unless I wanted to risk going berserk and destroying everything around me."

"Sure do, that's what makes you a loser."

"That's what _made_ me a 'loser,'" Hana said.

Black Lady didn't need to ask what she meant, because Hana had unleashed her power as soon as she stopped talking. Unlike what she remembered, this time Hana wasn't recklessly creating a psichic storm. No, this time, she was focusing all that power into her mind, into her body, burning her from inside with psichic energy.

"This can't..." Black Lady screamed in pain before she could complete her phrase. How could this slut be so powerful? She could hardly think straight right now, she couldn't teleport away, she only had a few more seconds before it was over. No, she couldn't die yet, not like that. Not while fighting one of those lame sidekicks.

Hana looked at Black Lady in shock as the woman started moving. "What the heck..."

"You forgot about this, moron? I can't be defeated by the likes of you, because I can power up when I know I'm about to be defeated."

Hana seemed surprised at that for a few seconds as Black Lady slowly moved to her, then smiled. "Then it's a good thing I was only using a portion of my real power."

Black Lady felt the new surge of energy hit her and screamed again. No, that couldn't be, this bitch was as strong as a Holy Senshi! And she couldn't block this kind of power, she couldn't copy it, if this kept up, she was going to...

Younger Saturn gasped as Black Lady vanished. "Did you kill her?"

Hana was still staring at the spot where her target had been. "No, she left. She must be stronger than I thought, if she could teleport even with my power turning her mind into jelly."

"Thanks for the help."

"Are you okay, girl?"

"Yeah, don't worry. But why are you here?"

"I've been visiting all the worlds in this system, out of boredom. It was fortunate that witch attacked today, since I arrived from Jupiter a few hours ago."

The two walked back to the city, and once inside, Kyouko looked at the girl. "What you did out there... How can you unleash that much power and not lose control of it?"

"Because I've stopped fearing my powers, girl."

Kyouko nodded at that, and then realized something. She had seen a lot of records of the old era, and of the battles the Senshi had during the Crystal Tokyo era. She had seen her mothers train, in the present. While Saturn's powers were nothing to underestimate, they looked far easier to control than those of the Moon Senshi.

Maybe that was it, that was the reason why she couldn't use those powers. It's not that she couldn't use them, but that she was, at least at a subconscious level, afraid of using them and losing control. She would have to talk to Usagi about it, but right now, she had to warn everyone back home about the 'new' evil being that had showed up.

* * *

Another advantage of being a Senshi was that she could teleport anywhere she wanted, at least within the limits of the solar system. It took a lot of practice to know how to do it safely, but it was good that she had learnt it, or she would have to call someone else to take her to Earth, or used the normal transport means. Spaceships weren't slow, but instant teleportation was definitely better.

Thus, she was standing in the throne room of the Crystal Palace, only half an hour after her battle with an ancient evil, and had told the Queen. Hana had tagged along, but they thought the Queen would be alone at the time. However, Younger Moon was there too, and hadn't taken the news lightly.

"That bitch is back? How can that be?"

"Maybe that's related to something else we're keeping an eye on," Serenity said.

"You should have killed that thing back then."

Serenity looked at her daughter and nodded. "Maybe I should. But I still think death was too light a punishment for her crimes."

"Death will be her punishment this time around," Moon said.

"She didn't seem much stronger than last time," Hana noted, "I suppose one Holy Senshi, specially the Elders, would be able to deal with her."

"That's right, you almost killed her," Kyouko noted.

"But she escaped, something I don't see as possible, unless someone helped her from the outside."

Serenity sighed. "From the outside, indeed. I think now I know what he is planning."

"He?" Hana asked.

"I'll see if I can tell anyone about this, but first I have to talk to Pluto."

Moon saw Serenity about to leave and frowned. "Like hell you're not going to tell me."

"Now, Chibi..."

"Don't bother, mother. That bitch almost killed my daughter, so I want to know who she's working for."

"If I knew, I would tell you," Serenity admitted. "Come with me."

Kyouko blinked as the two women vanished. "Wow, wonder what all that's about?"

"Same here." "Can't you read their minds?"

"I never do. Besides, Serenity is my friend, if she doesn't want to tell me what she knows, then she must have a good reason for it."

Usagi appeared in the room again, looking straight at Kyouko. "So, had fun out there?"

"Wait, wasn't grandma going to..."

"She already explained it. We've just spent a few hours in the 'limbo,' and I pretty much know all they know about it. Whatever it is."

Kyouko shook her head. "As for your question, yes, I had fun."

"Even though that enemy was far stronger than you?"

"Specially because of that."

"She's your daughter, no doubts about it," Hana noted.

Usagi laughed. "Of course." She paused for a moment. "I didn't thank you for saving my daughter's life."

"No need for that," Hana said dismissively, "it was a chance to test the limit of my powers."

"It's a pity I stopped training that many centuries ago."

"You weren't a match for me to begin with, not with psi powers, at least."

"Then why did you train me, the younger me?"

"Because you needed those powers in several battles."

"Oh, right." Usagi turned to Kyouko. "As for you, girl, you need to rest. Let's go home."

"Can you train me?"

Usagi shook her head. "Daughter, I don't think you can reach Holy level fast enough. If you're thinking about fighting her..."

"That's one reason, but I want to know if I can use lunar magic."

Usagi couldn't help but smile at that. She was sure Kyouko could use that kind of magic, the only thing stopping her was herself. She would have to thank Black Lady for causing this change of heart in her daughter. And by thanking her, she meant kicking her ass back to whichever universe she crawled out from.

* * *

"That was indeed entertaining."

"Not for me."

"Yes, I realize now that in order to make things more amusing, I will need to unseal your highest level of power."

Black Lady frowned. "Unseal my... I can do that myself!"

"No, you can't, for not even you know just how powerful you can be. "

"If it helps me killing those bitches, then go ahead."

"Never said I needed your permission," the creature said.

Black Lady felt it almost immediately, a surge of power coming from within her, her very flesh being overloaded with energy. This kind of power was simply amazing, there was no way the Senshi could stop her!

"It is done," the creature said, "but you may want to test your powers here before you go play with the Senshi."

"Of course," Black Lady said. "But letting them rest isn't good."

"Only thing I'd worry about, is my own boredom while I wait. But don't worry yourself with that, because I have already sent someone to keep them busy for a while."

Black Lady couldn't help but smile at that. If not for the fact he was using her for his own amusement, she could have liked this bastard's way of doing things.

* * *

**A/N:** This will be the last arc for Cyber Moon, but I may do some stories related to this one later on. However, once I'm done with this arc, I'll work on finishing my other projects (three fanfics for Pokemon, one for Digimon, and a rewrite to Summoner Wars.)

And I'm going to go back to Genesis in a near future and 'fix' it. That part of the saga looked good back when I finished it, but after reading it again, I realized there's many things I can improve, or even add, without affecting the other two sagas.


	15. A warrior's soul

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 3: Aeons.**

**Episode 15: A warrior's soul.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: March 18, 2009_

* * *

"We're home."

Hotaru looked up from the book she was reading as Usagi and Kyouko walked in. "Kyouko, what are you doing here?"

"My trip was interrupted by a certain Black Lady woman."

"Did you fight her?" Hotaru asked, surprised at the mention of that name, which she had hoped would stay in their past.

"She tried," Usagi said, "but Hana was the one who scared Black Lady off."

"Hana?" Hotaru stared at Usagi in shock. "She must have trained a lot more than I thought."

"On the other hand, I'm useless," Kyouko muttered.

"You're not, you just lack combat experience."

"Even so, what can I do if that woman comes back?"

"Let us handle her," Usagi said.

Kyouko shook her head at that. "I'm a Senshi too, I can't just sit around while that... Creature is out there. I know I don't have a lot of experience reading people's power, but that woman didn't need to fight me."

Usagi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She could have just destroyed Europa. Heck, I think she could destroy the Earth too if she wanted to."

"So she's playing with her prey again?" Hotaru mused. "That's what got her defeated last time."

Kyouko let out a long sigh. "I want to fight too, but I don't want to be a burden."

Usagi knew exactly how that felt, herself. Back when she first went back in time, she was always the one being shielded by the others, she was mostly useless, except for the few times when her powers burst out due to her rage or despair. Even when she gained her transformation, she had only been a minimal help to the others. Yes, her weak attack was enough to throw the balance off in their favor, but only because Sailor Moon had forced Wiseman to a stalemate. All ego aside, what Hotaru had said before was true, she was quite a lousy Senshi for the first few years. Fortunately, she had a way to help her daughter, something she had planned ever since she learnt about Black Lady's return.

"To fight her, you need to be at least at Eternal level, if not Holy. But to achieve that, you can't keep on training like you normally would."

Kyouko looked at her mother. "Is there a way to get there fast?"

"There is, but it won't be easy," Usagi said, "I won't hold back on you."

"You won't?" Hotaru chuckled. "I find that hard to believe, Chibi. "

"You will be able to see it, because you're coming with us."

That surprised the Death Senshi. "What for?"

"Because I won't be holding back," Usagi repeated.

Hotaru nodded at that, she didn't need her to explain any further to know what she meant. Kyouko didn't need a mother's training to help her reach her highest level, but a warrior's training. And Hotaru knew just how frightening Usagi could be when she stopped holding back. She had been on the receiving end of her attacks before, after all.

Kyouko seemed to understand what they meant too. "So in short, the training I need to get stronger fast could kill me."

"Yes, that's a possible outcome," Usagi said, not bothering to sugar-coat the issue.

"I'm taking that risk."

"Does Serenity know about this?" Hotaru asked.

"I discussed this with her," Usagi admitted, "and she doesn't fully agree with this method. She's leaving it to my judgement, and Kyouko's, to decide wheter the risk is worth the reward or not."

"I already said I'm going to do it."

"You don't know what I can do when I stop holding back," Usagi noted.

"I've seen it. I saw that battle between you two. It's part of the reason why I was afraid of using a part of my power."

"A part..." Usagi frowned. "You've been holding back, then?"

"Not consciously," Kyouko noted, "and trust me, I'm not happy about it."

"Well, once we get there, you need to stop holding back. If you only use a part of your powers against me, then dying won't just be something that could happen, it'll be something that _will_ happen."

Kyouko looked at Usagi for a few seconds then nodded. "I understand that."

"Good, then let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be back."

"Go where?" Kyouko asked.

"Somewhere you haven't been to before, and somewhere I've used to train for centuries."

Before Kyouko could ask anything else, the three of them vanished.

* * *

"They're gone," Serenity said, mostly to herself.

"Are you really going to let them do that?"

She turned to Endymion. "What choice do I have? Force them to forget about that stupid idea?"

"If anything, she's right about one thing. Senshi always seem to power up when their lives are threatened."

"Still, we've died a lot of times without any powering up."

"Kyouko will be okay. She's got a warrior's blood."

"Yes, she got that from her mother."

"And her grandmother, too," Endymion noted.

"I'm no..." Serenity frowned. No, he was right, she was a warrior at heart, too, even if she had tried to deny it time and again before. "Let's just hope Usagi doesn't go and blow up the time gate."

"Pluto wouldn't let her go near it if that could happen," Endymion said.

Serenity looked out the window, to the full moon. Just how many more battles would they have to go through before they could finally have peace? She knew the answer to that question was better left untold.

* * *

It had only taken her half an hour. She knew how this was likely to end, but it still didn't make it any easier on her. The training she had gone through before looked like a game to her now, like a kid's game, now that she had experienced what it was to fight someone this powerful.

She staggered up, slowly, noting her foe was letting her take a breather. "I thought you weren't going to hold back."

"I'm not, but I want you to be standing up and defiant when I defeat you for good."

Hotaru watched from a safe distance, and she had to admit, this was nothing like the fight she had against her. The power of a Guardian Senshi was nothing against a Holy Senshi, and even though Kyouko had scored several hits, both magical and physical, they added up to nearly nothing. Kyouko right now looked pretty bad, since Usagi hadn't held back at all, using her sword against her as well as her magic.

"When you defeat me?" Younger Saturn smiled. She could feel it, a feeling she knew well, but a feeling she had never experienced in a real battle. "_If_ you defeat me, you mean. Moon Guardian Power!"

Younger Moon was quite surprised by the change. Kyouko's suit looked almost like her own had in Guardian level, not counting the colors. The suit was pink in some parts, like the skirt and bow, and purple everywhere else. It made for a weird yet cute outfit, something she knew could make some foes lower their guard.

"Moon Requiem!"

But she wasn't one of them. She reached out her hand and grabbed the incoming, purple energy blast. It exploded, with a bit more force than she had predicted, but still far from enough to cause any harm. "Good, you've finally started to fight for real." She saw Kyouko's body was fully healed, too, and smiled. It was a pity that wasn't going to last long.

* * *

Kyouko didn't know just how many days had passed. From what her mother told her, no time would pass 'outside,' as they were in a zone outside of the normal timelines. She could make a guess from the breaks they took to eat and sleep, but even then, she knew she was eating and sleeping a lot less than she usually did. A lot more than she _needed_ as a Senshi, but it was still less than she was used to.

Had it been a week? A month? She didn't know, but she was, right now, very upset. All that training had only served to get her beaten up time and again, and all she had been able to do was to use both her powers in unison. Yes, she was getting better at it, but that didn't really help. It was like trying to break through a wall with a spoon... Unless you had Makoto's physical strength.

"Come on, stand up."

"I need to rest."

Moon laughed at that. "So, what are you going to do when Black Lady beats you down like this? Are you also going to tell her you need a rest?"

Younger Saturn slowly stood up. Every one of her bones was sending her brain pain signals, but she ignored them. Her mother was right, she had agreed to this with only one purpose, and she had to fight on. Even if it got her killed, she had to get stronger.

Moon didn't wait for her to attack, instead going on the offensive herself. "Sailor Moon never gives up, so I won't let you do it!"

Younger Saturn felt her anger growing. Not anger towards her mother, or even Black Lady, but anger directed at her own, weak self. She couldn't keep on being weak like this, she had to grow stronger if she wanted to return Black Lady's favor. She had to survive this training, and to do that, she would have to stop fighting like this. "Saturn Decay Power! Moon Eternal Power!"

Saturn couldn't help to gasp at that. True, there weren't many dual Senshi around, but none of them had gone this far, to activate both her upgrades at the same time. Her mind was telling her to be ready to do what she was meant to, but she told it to shut up.

Moon didn't really care about the change. "Finally, I was starting to fear you just wouldn't get to that level."

"Shut up," Younger Saturn said, her voice almost a snarl. "Serene Blade."

Moon guessed what would happen, and leapt to the side just in time. A building-sized blade had popped out from the ground where she had been standing. Holy or not, that attack would have still hurt her. "Impressive."

"And that's not all I have. Deadly Heart Dancer."

Moon saw a few dozen pink hearts appear all around her, and couldn't help but smile at that. "Now we're talking."

Younger Saturn said nothing more as her open palm pointed at Moon. She then clasped her hand shut, and the hearts all shot in at Moon, causing a quite large explosion which knocked both warriors off their feet. "Touche."

Moon appeared right behind her, kicking her down to the ground. "Never take a victory for granted."

Younger Saturn stood up, growling, then noticed something. "You're bleeding?"

"Don't act so surprised," Moon muttered. "While an Eternal Senshi has no chance in hell to win against a Holy Senshi, someone with dual powers like you can still manage to do some harm."

"So if I get to Holy level..."

"Power-wise, you may be stronger than a normal Holy Senshi. Since you also have a Ginzuishou, you could in theory be stronger than me, or even Serenity. But there's something you're lacking, experience. "

"Hey, what's with the talking?" Saturn shouted from afar.

Moon chuckled. "I said I wouldn't be holding back, and I said this kind of training could kill her. I never said that I would train her until she died, did I?"

Younger Saturn smiled. "That's good, because using this new level is..."

Moon saw her daughter fall to the ground, knocked out, and nodded. "I guessed as much."

Saturn appeared next to her. "Oh, I see. You knew she didn't have much power left anyhow, that's why you didn't let her attack again. "

"There's a difference between not holding back and being reckless. "

"Good to see you still remember it," Saturn said. "So, you think we'll be here for much longer?"

"She's only just reached her Eternal level."

"This could be dangerous," Saturn noted. "If she gets to that level and hits you with an attack..."

"I'm no weakling, Hotaru, and just like she's prepared for that, I am too."

Hotaru paled (moreso than her usual skin tone,) at that. "So you knew she could kill you if she..."

"If that happens, she can revive me."

For a few seconds, there was silence, but then Hotaru let out a dry chuckle. "I keep on forgetting the simplest things, huh?"

"Old age's making your memory fail," Moon joked.

"Don't make me use my glaive, Chibi."

* * *

While Kyouko had no idea how to measure time inside the time tunnel, the other two women had been there long enough to know how much time had 'passed' inside the tunnel. And today was the first day of the third month since they arrived here.

Kyouko and Usagi had been fighting as much as they could, never stopping unless Kyouko was knocked out. Twice this last month, Hotaru had to heal Kyouko back from near death, and she could see something in Usagi's eyes, something that she was fearing not seeing again.

Yes, Usagi wasn't holding back anymore, going to the limit, and often getting hurt herself in battle, but those two times where she almost killed Kyouko, her eyes showed that she was totally shocked at herself. She still didn't hold back, but it was clear that she didn't enjoy going this far, not with someone that wasn't an enemy, at least.

And right now, Younger Saturn and Younger Moon were once again fighting. The difference in power made melee a moot point, but Kyouko still tried to punch her foe down sometimes, only to get punched away in a blink. Her attacks weren't much of a help, though a few of them could weaken Moon slightly. Overally, Kyouko was always fighting to win, but knew that it just wasn't possible with her current level.

Moon frowned. Her daughter was close to Holy level, she could feel it. But just like reaching Eternal level, she might need a 'little' push to get there. "So, kid, are you giving up yet?"

"Don't bet on it," Younger Saturn snapped, then reached her fist out. "Death Claw."

Moon had seen that attack before, as Kyouko used it a lot. A large 'claw' of death magic formed in her hand, then shot forwards, propelled by moon magic. She had let it hit the first time, but that had proven a mistake, as it drained her energy pretty quick. So this time, she didn't wait for it, instead teleporting behind Kyouko and stabbing at her with her sword.

Younger Saturn wasn't fast enough this time around. It had happened before, the first time she got nearly killed, but she thought she had learnt to read her mother's intentions by now. "That hurts, you..."

Moon sighed. "You can't lose focus, even for a moment, Kyouko."

"I know that," Younger Saturn said, growling. She was bleeding a lot, both from the wound in her stomach, and her mouth. But she felt something else right now. A rise in her power that she hadn't sensed the first time. "Don't you lose focus, either. Saturn Holy Power! Moon Holy Power!"

Moon phased away from her fast. The transformation didn't take more than a couple seconds, and when it was done, Younger Saturn's suit was once again changed. But this time, the suit wasn't a mix of colors, it was now mostly white, with two thin lines crossing her chest diagonally, one pink and the other purple. "Nice suit."

"If the suit looks good to you, then you'll love this. Moonlight Curse!"

Moon saw no attack coming at her from her daughter, and for a split second didn't react. That was a big mistake on her part, because she had no time to react when she realized where the beam was coming from. A large, pink beam of energy, coming from behind, which washed over her, turning her suit into rags, and causing her damage that could've been enough to knock her out, if not for her mental strength.

Kyouko realized something at once, and rushed to her mother. "Mom!"

Moon was kneeling on the ground, visibly in pain, but still smiled at Kyouko. "I'm okay, I'll live."

Saturn had already appeared besides her, and started healing her. "You'll live, yeah right. If I wasn't here, you could bleed yourself to death."

Younger Saturn looked away. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Moon said. "Not holding back? You did hold back. "

"I hit you with all I had, I didn't think about the consequences, what if I had..."

"That wasn't going to happen. But as I said, you did hold back. You didn't attack me a second time, that shows you're a warrior."

Kyouko nodded at that, then looked at her own hands. "But this power, it's simply..."

"You don't have to tell us that," Saturn noted. "We know quite well how it feels. but you're not invincible, remember that."

"Of course," Kyouko said. "And I'm still weaker than you, right?"

Moon stood up, her wounds already healed. "You only have basic control of the Ginzuishou, and not enough experience in battle."

"It's been a fun three months," Saturn commented.

"Three months?" Kyouko shouted. "That means I'm seventeen?"

"Don't worry about missing your birthday," Moon said, "you'll have a party in two months, once we get out of here."

* * *

The three appeared in the throne room, and Serenity noticed the change in Kyouko at once. "Amazing, you got her up to Holy..."

"And she didn't die to get there," Usagi said.

Kyouko smiled. "Now where's that Black Lady monster?"

"We don't know," Serenity started, "or even where her boss..."

Just then, Ami appeared in the room. "Serenity, we've got some unexpected visitors."

"Black Lady again?" Usagi guessed.

"No, the Kh'Sun ships."

Hotaru frowned. "The Kh'Sun? I thought there were only three of those ships."

"There were only three," Ami said, "and they're all heading for the Earth right now."

"So our enemy sends us yet another ancient evil to deal with," Serenity said, not a trace of humor in her voice. "We have to fight them, but stay alert. This could be a trap."

* * *

"Maybe I should go there, before any of them upgrades."

"Your thoughts are noted, but such an action is not required. Besides, what fun would it be to send you there right now?"

"I can make their deaths fun enough."

"I'm sure you would, but I have other things in mind for them. If the Kh'Sun fail, which I'm sure they will, then I have another enemy to send their way."

As he said that, another creature appeared. A female, that was obvious, wearing a tank top and a short skirt, both of which were made of a material that seemed to change colors every second. Her hair and eyes also had that effect, and it was both unnerving and intriguing. Even though she didn't care for looks, Black Lady had to admit this woman was simply... Perfect. "Who is she?"

"We am Ultima," the woman said. For some reason, her voice had a reverberation, like an echo, to it, and it sounded eerily familiar to her.

"You must be wondering what she is," the man guessed. "The answer is quite simple, at least to me. She is a creature made of the essence of every major enemy the Senshi fought, not counting you."

"Major enemy? What do you mean?"

"She's Cygale. She's Metallia. She's the Death Phantom, the Pharaoh, Neherenia and Chaos. She has even some of the Dark Mana in her."

Black Lady had to admit this woman sounded pretty powerful, and from what she was sensing, could really take care of the Senshi. "So, you'll send her there to kill the Senshi?"

"I'll send her there to do that. Whether she completes her mission or not is not important to me, as long as I am entertained by the battle."

"I see..." Black Lady was starting to figure out this man, this god who had created her, and apparently her whole universe. He wasn't sending all those attacks to kill the Senshi. No, if he wanted their lives to end, she was pretty sure he could do it with a wave of his hand. He wanted to be amused, and his only amusement was the suffering of others. That whole Universe of his was like his ant farm, and dead ants weren't too interesting to look at.

But to hell with it, there was no way she would just fight for his entertainment. She finally had enough power to destroy all those Senshi and be the strongest being in her home universe. She would play along, but once she was sent down there, things would be over _very_ fast.

* * *

There was a difference in power from the last time the Kh'Sun appeared. There were more Senshi than back then, and they were all up to Holy level, at least those who were already trained for battle. But it wasn't only the Senshi, the Earth's army was far more skilled than it was in the past. And also, the Nemesian army was sending help in, adding numbers to the humans and youma already waiting for those three ships to arrive.

The Senshi were waiting for the invaders, all of them standing outside the city's limits, except for their queen. Serenity knew the shield around Crystal Tokyo wouldn't take a direct blast from all the three ships, so she was still inside the palace, feeding the shield with her own magic. The shield was clearly visible now, a white dome surrounding the whole city, greatly contrasting the usual, barely visible, transparent bubble the citizens were used to.

It could be easy for them to just destroy the three ships on the spot. But there was one request given to Younger Moon by Serenity herself, a request the princess wasn't too sure was possible. Serenity was, however, right. Those ships were filled not only by Kh'sun, in fact the Kh'sun were a minority inside the ships, but a minority that controlled a large mass of slaves. And as much as Moon kept on telling herself that the lives of those they were protecting were more important than the lives of slaves that had long ago abandoned any hope, she didn't believe it.

They had killed those slaves in the past, back when Tokyo was still the old city, and she knew her mother had never really forgotten that, what she had been forced to do to save their world. Now, fate, or rather the guy behind this attack, was giving them a chance to correct this mistake. But just how could they...

Millions of ships poured out of the larger ones before she could finish her thoughts, but she had a hint of what to do. "Kyouko, Terry, can you identify souls?"

"Of course," Terry said, not surprised that the princess knew about it, since she had lived and trained with Saturn for centuries.

"Same here," Kyouko said, "but why are you asking this?"

"Can you tell the Kh'sun apart from the other creatures in those ships?" the princess asked back.

"I would be able to, if I get to see one close," Kyouko admitted. "Wait, what are you planning?"

"I just figured out a way to kill the Kh'sun without touching anyone else."

Hotaru looked at her, then frowned. "Kyouko can't do that."

"Hey, I can drain energy just fine."

"Yes, but can you control the power once you start?"

"You two taught me that fearing my own powers was bad. Let me show you both that I learnt that lesson well."

Hotaru shook her head. "I'll trust your judgement, if only because we have nobody else that could do what we need to do." She turned to Usagi. "I think I know what you want us to do. Send one of us to each of those ships, and have us drain the Kh'sun dead. But what after that's done?"

"Those slaves are not _loyal_ to their masters. Loyalty never spawns from fear. The moment they realize their leaders are gone, they will give up."

"Let's hope you're right about that."

* * *

Queen Serenity could sense a great ripple of death energy. Her senses let her see things that others couldn't see, and things only a few could see. She reached up with her senses, through the shield, and could sense the deaths of many thousands of creatures. If all had gone as she hoped, then those would all be Kh'Sun. She could also feel three beacons of power, three of her Senshi, but one of them was having problems controlling the energy. Serenity knew that was Kyouko, and for a moment considered helping her. However, the power stabilized soon, and she sighed in relief.

But her relief didn't last long. There was something out there now, something powerful, something insanely powerful, even to someone like her. She didn't hesitate this time, vanishing from the shield room before whatever was coming had a chance to appear.

* * *

Just as Serenity appeared outside, another figure also showed up. The Senshi looked at the creature. Female, humanoid, and the color of her clothing, hair and eyes kept on changing as they looked. The woman stood there, studying the Senshi, then chuckled. "And this is what we had so much trouble fighting before? We are glad getting our revenge is going to be easy."

"We?" Rei muttered. "Is she talking about herself?"

"There's a reason for that," Serenity said, "this being is not just one creature."

Ami scanned the creature. "I sense traces of Metallia's power in her, and also of dark mana."

Serenity nodded. "I can see much more than that in her. The essence of every major enemy we fought. And her power is just..."

"Out of your reach," the woman said. "But of course, if you want to try and fight us, we will be happy to obligue."

The Queen was the only one who could sense just how much power this woman had, and that wasn't a good thing right now. If this creature was just an underling, then what hope was there to defeat its boss?

No, she couldn't start thinking like that now, she wasn't going to give up, she wasn't even going to shrink down to this creature's power. "Of course we will fight, monster."

"Attack us all at once, if you want," the creature said, "that will show you just how superior we are to you."

"Don't mind if we..." Dragon Venus started.

"No, wait," Serenity said, "she's right, even our attacks combined wouldn't work."

Usagi gasped. "Mother, are you giving up?"

"Never," Serenity said, "but you guys stand back. I'm going to take care of this myself."

"Great, she finally cracked," Dragon Sun muttered.

"We are surprised at your words, Serenity. We would have expected you to sacrifice all your friends for naught before you decide to fight us."

"If you're trying to make me angry, that won't work. Unlike you, I can see my own flaws, both those I had and those I still have. That makes me stronger than you in a way."

"That's just priceless, Serenity. We will have fun destroying you. "

Serenity vanished, appearing right behind her enemy, and gatherin as much energy as she could into her fists. However, the woman was ready for this, and spun around just as Serenity tried to punch her back. She grabbed Serenity's hand with hers and smiled coldly. "You cannot defeat Ultima, little human queen." A wave of dark energy shot through the queen's body, and she screamed in pain. Ultima laughed as Serenity fell to the ground, barely conscious. "Killing you would be boring, I will kill all your Senshi first," the woman said and turned to look at the others.

"We won't go down easily," Usagi snapped.

Ultima was about to say something, but then heard Serenity's laughter. She turned back to see Serenity staggering up. "You don't know when you're beaten."

"Yes, that's a birth defect," Serenity said, "and you should know better than underestimating us, Ultima."

Ultima smiled. If this woman wanted to die before her friends, she would grant her that wish. "Any last words before I kill you?"

"Only three," Serenity said, "Moon Aeon Power!"

* * *

**A/N:** Nothing shows motherly love like beating your daughter to a pulp until she grows powerful enough to blow a planet up... Right?

_LordHalo_: Nope, it's _"just"_ an average, omnipotent godlike creature. A bored, omnipotent god. Bored enough to do what he just did, at least. I mean, the guy created an evil Mary-Sue.




	16. Clash of goddesses

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 3: Aeons.**

**Episode 16: Clash of goddesses.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: March 25, 2009_

* * *

The transformation was faster than any other they had seen, but the change was still noticeable. Most of the Senshi had already seen someone with a similar suit, the full body suit with a white, transluscent skirt, the seven pairs of light wings on her back... But unlike the First Serenity, this Sailor Moon had a tiara, which had the usual gemstone at its center, but also had many smaller gems of different color to both sides of the main one, each with the color of one of the Senshi.

Mercury looked at Serenity with her visor, and it did something that surprised her, it shut down. "I can't get a reading on her anymore. "

The three Saturns had returned moments before the transformation, and both were staring at Moon, wondering just how strong she was now.

Younger Moon was used to sensing lunar mana, and to using it herself, but this... Serenity's body wasn't just filled with lunar magic now. "She's drawing energy from all the planets, even from the Sun," she explained. "And if I have to make a guess, right now she's around a hundred times stronger than me."

Younger Saturn paled. "And here I was happy about getting to this level."

Ultima looked at Moon for a few seconds, then chuckled. "Now this is more like it. Shall we fight all out now?"

"Not here," Moon said. "Let's fight elsewhere."

Ultima shrugged at that. "Suits you, little queen. It will be a pity your friends won't get to see you die."

Moon turned to the others. "Stay here, everyone, I'll take care of her."

Younger Moon seemed ready to protest, but then nodded. "Good luck, mom."

* * *

"Oh, how disappointing."

Black Lady looked at the man. "It will be an interesting fight, they're even."

"Yes, but the other Senshi are going to just watch it."

"Of course, it's quite stupid to just watch someone else's battle," Black Lady said, the sarcasm quite obvious in her tone.

"Color me stupid, then," the man said with a small smile, "You wanted to go there, didn't you? I suppose your presence there will be amusing to me."

Black Lady chuckled. "I've got a plan to torture the Senshi without killing them, actually."

"You do? Well then, let me see what you have in mind."

"Right. Hope you enjoy yourself, for I know I will."

* * *

Younger Moon frowned. Her mother was out there, yes, but she was out of her range right now. She had taken the battle to the area between Jupiter and Saturn, that much she could sense, but she didn't know who was winning.

She looked up and frowned. With that woman showing up, they had forgotten about the Kh'Sun ships. The three ships were just floating there, waiting. Maybe the slaves didn't know what to do now that they were free, maybe they were afraid of doing something and ending like they masters had.

But as she watched, she saw the ship closest to the ground light up with energy. Were they going to shoot? No, that wasn't energy from the ship itself, that was... "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

The warning was almost too late, but Elder Mars managed to summon her shield around everyone a second before the ships above them exploded, the shockwave strong enough to destroy every tree and rock in the area, and as the explosion dimmed, Mars fell to her knees. "Who did that?" she asked out loud, looking around.

"That would be me," Black Lady mused as she materialized in front of them, "those assholes were floating on my path."

Younger Saturn was beyond shocked. "You... You killed millions of innocents, just because you felt like it?"

"If you're going to be so technical about it, I did it because I knew it would piss you all off," Black Lady said with a sly smile.

"I don't think I need to tell you this, guys, but her level is almost like that Ultima woman."

"Always the sidekick, aren't you?" Younger Moon snapped.

"I blame you for that," Black Lady snapped back, "after all, you've been sucking up to a queen that never dies, for a thousand years."

"So what are you here for, besides blowing up defenseless beings?"

Black Lady turned to Younger Venus and smiled. "Why, kid, I haven't blasted you yet."

"Yes, that's quite strange," Saturn noted.

"See, my boss just wants me to play with you, not kill you. He's quite a moron, if I may say so myself," the woman explained, "but I don't agree, so I thought I could piss him off by not fighting you. "

"Aren't you afraid of that creature?"

Black Lady laughed. "Afraid? I would be stupid if I wasn't aware of what he is. You haven't seen him yet, but trust me, Ultima herself is a weakling compared to this guy. And be glad he wants to be entertained, if he was trying to destroy you, well... We wouldn't be here right now."

"So what, are you just going to stand there?"

"Unless you want to fight me, in which case, I will fight back."

Younger Moon shrugged. "Then we'll wait until Serenity comes back to kick your ass."

"_If_ she wins," Black Lady said. "You may think high of her new form, but I could defeat her easily. Ultima should have an easy fight out there."

"Let's just wait and see," Younger Moon said. It was strange, Black Lady was too calm about this whole issue, and didn't seem to respect her 'boss' any more than she respected Serenity. What side was she really on, if she was in any side at all?

* * *

To an observer from any of the satellites circling Jupiter or Saturn, it would have seemed like the sky being lit up with small flares of random colors, an event that could not be explained unless they knew what was happening between the two giant planets.

Moon had guessed as much, she had sensed the power her foe had, and had sensed her own power. They weren't even using long range magic, but each magic-charged punch and kick, whether it was blocked or not, released a blast of mana so strong, it could have punched deep into the Earth.

They kept trading blows for several minutes, Moon's improved senses were able to know that something had happened on Earth. The three large ships were gone, blasted by Black Lady. But she couldn't go back there right now, she couldn't ignore this foe, who could destroy her homeworld in a blink. She had to first defeat this monster, if she wanted to deal with the other one.

Ultima were awed by Moon's new power. To think that the Senshi Queen had forced them into a stalemate like this... They had not know just how powerful this woman could be, and they knew about the energy reserve Moon had. If things didn't change, then they would run out of energy way before the Senshi Queen did. And they just couldn't allow that to happen, they couldn't bear to be defeated by this Sailor Moon again.

They would not go down easily. "Ragnarok's Edge." A thin blade of energy shot forth, hitting Moon dead on. Ultima were surprised she hadn't dodged it, but it was a good thing. Now the little Queen would be too weak to fight... Or would she?

Moon stood there as the attack ended, completely unharmed by it. "I guess now it's my turn. Goddess' Call."

Ultima weren't stupid enough to stay there and let the blast hit. They teleported far out of the way, and prepared to attack Moon. However, they caught Moon smiling at them, and were confused by that. A confusion that was cleared out quite violently when something hit them from the side, sending them stumbling for a long distance. They clutched their side and realized they were bleeding. "This can't be, our powers are the same as yours."

"There's a major difference between you and me," Serenity noted, "I'm not fighting for myself, and that gives me a kind of power you will never understand."

* * *

The fight of Moon and Ultima was slightly amusing, he could give them that much, but it was also a given who would win, Ultima didn't have any magical upgrading abilities, unlike the Senshi. And Black Lady... She was clearly not playing along anymore, she had just been standing there, surrounded by Senshi far weaker than her, for several minutes. What a disappointment, he expected much more of her.

He would have to get more players for this little play, but where to get one that he hadn't already... Oh, of course! That one creature, he had followed her improvements with interest for a while, but then she just stopped being fun to watch, she simply didn't have anyone to fight against. She had, after eons of insanity, managed to extinguish all sentient life in her own universe. A feat that, he had to admit, was almost godlike. Almost. But now, she would have a whole new universe to play with, as long as she got rid of those Senshi first.

He located her and was impressed at what he saw. She hadn't stopped with just destroying every sentient life form in her universe. She had either grown bored, or her insanity had gone off the scale, and thus she was now flying through an endless sea of nothing, still searching for a planet she hadn't yet destroyed.

And considering who this creature was, or who she had once being, he could bet the Senshi would be more than shocked to see what she had become.

* * *

Saturn yawned. "Really, you're nothing like last time we fought you. "

"I could destroy this planet in one shot if I wanted to," Black Lady said, "that would take care of most of you, too. But I want to kill Serenity first."

Younger Venus frowned. "We won't let you do that."

"And what will you do, then? Fight me? I'm not going to let any of you get to Aeon."

They all felt something, a surge of energy, and could see someone standing meters away from them. "I'm seeing double," Younger Mars commented.

Younger Moon looked at the newcomer and gasped. This was a clone of herself, another Younger Moon, but from the suit she was wearing, she had already reached Aeon level. For a split second, she had the hope this woman was there to help, but then she looked into her eyes and could feel her skin crawl. This was that insanely powerful ChibiMoon Terry and Ami had seen during their journey, but her eyes were devoid of any emotion. Whatever had happened to her, had erased any trace of hope from her.

And then she felt another surge. This woman wasn't bothering to warn them or gloat, she was going to attack. But with as much power as she was gathering... "Guys, get away from the planet!"

Younger Moon's warning wasn't late, and the Senshi managed to teleport away before the woman unleashed her attack. Saturn and Younger Moon knew what the other was thinking even at such a time as this, and thus they had both appeared in Mars. They both looked up to the sky just in time to see a second sun shining for several seconds, and they were both too shocked to say a thing.

The Earth was gone, but had that woman died in the explosion too?

* * *

Moon couldn't help but look away from her own battle. The others could have seen the explosion, those connected to Earth by their powers could have felt the planet's energy waver, but Moon's powers were beyond that. She had felt all the living beings dying, she had felt the magic dispersing, and she knew she was partially to blame.

She had, after all, noticed the arrival of that new creature, but had not realized what it meant in time to stop her. The Senshi were alive, yes, but they were spread out. And for all she knew, that woman could just destroy every other world the same way.

It wouldn't have been so disturbing to her, if that woman wasn't her daughter. But that didn't matter to her right now, just like Black Lady, she had gone too far, and couldn't be forgotten.

Ultima attacked her while she was distracted, but Moon managed to block the energy blast. "You don't know when you're beaten."

"It's a birth defect," Ultima said.

"That's my line," Moon snapped. "I have no time to waste with you, so... Goddess Call!" This time, the attack blasted right through Ultima, but Moon didn't waste time with that minor victory. There was a much stronger foe out there, and she had to take care of it before anyone else was killed.

* * *

Younger Saturn couldn't believe what she had seen. The Earth was gone, and she had been killed too if not for her mother's warning. They could have all died right there.

"What are you?"

She froze at the voice. It was her mother's voice, but she knew this was the same who had just destroyed her homeworld. "What am I? A Senshi, like you."

The woman looked at Younger Saturn, no emotion showing in her face. "I see, this world's me is a lucky bithc, she could marry and have children. I can't remember the last time I felt happiness. The last time I felt anything at all. And if I can't have happiness, nobody will."

Younger Saturn considered her options, and running was right now the wisest move. But if she run, this woman was going to destroy the planet she was on, Mercury, and follow her wherever she went. "I'm not going down without a fight."

The woman chuckled at that, a dry, deep chuckle. "A fight? I don't even need to move to kill you, brat."

Younger Saturn felt something within her, a power burning her. She fell to her knees, clutching her chest. "What is this... What..."

"Die." The evil ChibiMoon rose her arm, but before she could do anything else, something hit her from the side. She rolled on the ground a good mile before stopping and standing up. "You?"

"Leave my daughter alone, you fake," Younger Moon snapped. A large white aura surrounded her, and her glare was furious.

"Weaklings like you should hide and cower," ChibiMoon snapped back.

"Who's the weakling? Moon Aeon Power!"

Saturn glared at ChibiMoon. "You may look like her, but you're nothing like her. Something as evil as you must be stopped. Saturn Aeon Power!"

ChibiMoon laughed as the two transformed. "Yes, give me what I want! Finally, a challenge, after all these centuries!"

"You're insane," Younger Saturn said.

ChibiMoon turned to her. "Try being forced to kill your own mother after you saw her kill everyone you cared about, and then come call me insane, wuss."

"Kyouko, get out of here."

Younger Saturn wanted to protest that order, but after a few seconds of considering her options, nodded. "Kick this one around for me."

Younger Moon smiled as her daughter left. "I suppose telling you we'll fight elsewhere isn't going to work."

ChibiMoon's face was again unreadable. "I don't care where you want to die, I only care that you die."

"Right then... Follow us."

* * *

The Elder Senshi were all floating in the middle of a cloud of small rocks and dust. Mars looked around and shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "It's simply too much, how could she do something like this..."

Dragon Mercury had his eyes closed, and his face was dead serious. "I can sense millions of souls, all around us. I never thought I would see something like this. We have to kill this freak, for all those who died today."

"But how can we do that?" Venus asked.

Serenity appeared near the others. "Don't ask how, you know the answer. Let all your anger and shock free, and then take control of it. I know you guys can do it."

Pluto had been silently observing the others, but then nodded. "It's quite evident that to defeat an Aeon Senshi, we must reach that level too."

"Let's do it, then," Venus said.

"I'll help."

Serenity turned to the side and stared at the figure in shock. "You?"

* * *

Yes, now things were starting to look interesting. With the Earth gone, the Senshi would stop playing nice, and now more and more of them were reaching their highest level. To those in their universe, such a power would be considered godlike. To one such as him, though, it was at most a nuissance.

And if everything else failed, if he was still bored after this was over, then he would beat the surviving Senshi around himself. Not kill them, no, because their deaths would free them from the pain of living eternally knowing they had failed to their world. And such suffering, such pain, was just too much fun to be ignored.

* * *

ChibiMoon was having fun, too. She hadn't faced a challenge like this since the day she blasted a hole through her mother's heart. She had been left alone, to take care of a world that was empty tp her, without those she cared about. She cared about nobody else, and still, she remained there. A group of assholes she didn't even ask the names of came in, trying to take over the world, and ChibiMoon did what she was born to do. She destroyed those idiots, putting all her might into her assault. The Earth itself was blown to pebbles during that battle, but she had stopped caring even about that.

As bored as she was, she started searching, searching for new evils to fight. She found some, and she destroyed them, never bothering holding back for the sake of alien worlds she couldn't care less about. After a century or so of this, she had achieved what the Senshi had always dreamed of: She had eliminated every evil entity in her universe. But, she had thought, now what?

She was a warrior. A warrior born to fight. And since what she had been focusing on before, her family and friends, were gone forever, then she only had the fighting to live for. But that was, also, eventually gone, she defeated (and killed) every Senshi, every being with special powers. And while doing that, she had destroyed a good part of the universe. At which point the remaining shards of her morals had left her, she couldn't tell, but soon she found herself destroying everything she saw. Sometimes, she would destroy planets bit by bit, city by city, enjoying the pathetic struggle of the natives. Others, she would simply cause a star to explode, and watch amusedly as planets, moons and comets were destroyed by it.

But that, too, was eventually over. She didn't know just how many centuries had passed since the last time she saw a star, or even a small asteroid. She had thought what had happened in the beginning was hell, to see those she cared about die, and having to kill her own mother. But that was nothing compared to eternally roaming around an empty universe, with nothing to do but keep roaming, and being unable to die.

These two women she was fighting right now, however, gave her something she had thought lost long ago, hope. If they weren't strong enough, then she would destroy them, and then keep going until this universe, too, was empty. But a part of her still hoped these two would be powerful enough to do what even she wasn't able to do. To cease the hell her life had become.

"Come on, weaklings, don't hold back!"

Saturn frowned. "She asked for it, didn't she?"

"Sure she did," Younger Moon admitted. "Let's give her what she wants. Lunar Wrath!"

"Endless Death."

Saturn would have commented on Younger Moon's attack being another heart, if she hadn't sensed just how much energy it carried. Her own attack wasn't any softer, though, a giant, faceless wraith, which howled painfully as it fled towards their foe.

ChibiMoon snorted and rose her hands, and both attacks were deflected. "Too bad, you girls aren't strong enough."

"Two of us may not be enough, but what about a lot of us?"

Younger Moon looked at the group and smiled. "It's Senshi upgrading season again, huh?"

"No kidding," Jupiter noted.

"And our special powers upgraded," Mercury said, "I'm right now sending a warning message to every other planet's computer networks, to tell them to prepare for the worst if we fail here."

"You will fail," ChibiMoon said.

"Keep your empty threats to yourself."

ChibiMoon looked at Black Lady. "This is pitiful. The useless clone's so desperate to win, she allies with those she hates the most?"

"Right now, you and that asshole of a god I worked for are those I hate the most."

"So be it, attack me all at once if you dare."

The Senshi didn't need to be told that, though, as most of them were already gathering energy the second they appeared.

"Moon Goddess Call!"

"Earth King's Sword Barrage!"

Dragon Earth swung his sword to the side, then back, creating a swarm of large stone spears, which shot towards the evil woman.

"Lunar Wrath!"

"Saturn Endless Death!"

"Mars Aeon Demon!"

"Mars Meltdown Storm!"

Sailor Mars summoned a large demon, similar to the one she used in her weaker form, but this one was white, not red, due to its extreme temperature. Dragon Mars' attack was a wave of flames, however, which washed over the demon and wrapped around it, turning into a makeshift cloak.

"Mercury Aeon Flood!"

"Saturn Deadly Torrent!"

Two almost identical streams of water shot from Mercury and Dragon Mercury, fusing into one large jet of water and ice.

"Jupiter Thundering Fury!"

"Earth Final Meteor!"

A moon-sized meteor formed above Sailor Earth's head, and Jupiter grabbed it, charging it up with an impossibly strong electric current, before tossing it at their foe like it was weightless.

"Venus Blink Storm!"

"Venus Arcane Flash!"

Dragon Venus' attack was a large wave of light, while Venus' one was a barrage of light beams, so fast it was impossible to dodge them all.

"Nemesis Starless Night."

"Moon Immortal Werewolf Slash."

Nemesis' attack was hard to see, as everything around them was pitch black, but something seemed to be eating the stars away for a few seconds, a shadow that soon lunged forwards. Moments later, a white-furred werewolf rushed by, leaving a trail of after-images.

"Uranus Wind Serpent!"

"Neptune Aqua Serpent!"

The two attacks were identical, not counting their elements, and the two giant snakes wrapped around each other as they both shot towards their target.

"Lilith's Lady Luck's Gamble."

"Sun Solar Wind Maelstrom."

Lilith's attack wasn't an attack in itself, but it altered Dragon Sun's spread-out wave of plasma, condensing it into an incredibly thin, dense line.

"Pluto Aeon Warp."

Pluto's attack was as invisible as ever, and the effect on her target was also hard to notice, but it carried almost as much power as that of the two Sailor Moon, if not more.

Black Lady smiled and reached out her hands. "Moon Demoness Call."

ChibiMoon shot out as much energy as she could, managing to block one or two of the incoming attacks, but the rest of them hit her fully, knocking her back. She glared at the Senshi as she stopped her flight, and then laughed. "All your power is still not enough to defeat me, no matter how many of you attack, you will be..." She stopped in shock as she felt a pain in her chest. "Damn it..."

"This is for all those you killed, both here and in your universe," Younger Moon said, her fist stuck inside her lookalike's chest. "Lunar Wrath."

As the attack hit from within, ChibiMoon smiled despite the incredible pain. "How ironic, I thought I couldn't... Kill myself. "

Venus was the first to find her voice, and she stared at Younger Moon, whose hand was still dripping blood. "You know, you can be quite scary sometimes."

"Guess that's what I get for being around Hotaru," Younger Moon joked, "besides, that bitch tried to kill my daughter. Which reminds me..." she looked at Black Lady. "You..."

"I helped you this time around."

"You were going to do the same she did, weren't you?"

"No," Black Lady said, "it has always been my goal to kill your group. True, I did blow up Tokyo back then, but I've had more than enough time to think about it."

"Don't go playing the pity card on us," Mars snapped.

"Am not, but we have a common enemy now," Black Lady noted, "I want that god guy dead as much as you do, for different reasons."

"She's got a point," Mercury admitted, "she must know his weaknesses and..." she stopped as Black Lady burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Weaknesses, you say? He's got none. And face it, the guy says he created this universe, and many others around it. He wouldn't create something powerful enough to destroy him."

"But where do we go?"

Suddenly, a white, square portal appeared, floating in mid-space. The Senshi all looked at each other in confusion, until a voice from within it said "please, by all means, do come in. You have amused me greatly, and now it's time for you to know the truth about yourselves and your universe."

"Smells like a trap," Jupiter noted.

"Either that, or the guy really wants us to kick his rear," Uranus said.

"What about the Younger?"

"They'll be safer here, until we get back," Serenity said.

"_If_ you get back," Black Lady said.

"What, not coming with us?"

Black Lady vanished, and appeared right next to Serenity. "If I go there, I know I won't come back. But I guess I can still do something to screw that moron up." She grabbed Serenity's arm, and black energy shot from her hand into the Queen's body. The Senshi all glared at her, but she sighed. "I'm just helping her."

"Why are you helping?"

"Because I want to get back at that loser," Black Lady said, "and because I've finally realized something. You girls and I are the same, we will both continue to grow stronger and fight each other like this... So I want you to stay alive."

Serenity let out a chuckle. "So you're doing the right thing for the wrong reason. But if you do anything while we're away..."

"What could I fight here? Those Eternal level kids? Hmph."

Younger Moon shook her head at that. "You know, if you weren't evil, I could get used to your attitude."

"Right then, let's go," Serenity said.

"We're going to fight a god, with all the odds against us and no clue how his world looks like, or if he has a few hundred Ultimas waiting," Dragon Venus noted.

"Damn it, I missed the old days," Dragon Mercury added.

Serenity sighed. Those two, no matter how old they were, wouldn't change.

* * *

**A/N:** Next episode could be the last one for this saga, it all depends on whether I can fit the battle and epilogue in it or not.

_Mazeem:_ They're not going to show up in Cyber Moon itself (notice even Ami's daughter isn't getting any screentime,) but if my plot bunnies get too annoying, I may write a sequel or two to this monster of a fic.

But before all that, once this is finished, I'm going back and taking as many grammar/spelling horrors out of the story as I can, as well as removing any plot holes I may have unintentionally left lying around.

_LordHalo:_ The episode's title might be enough to tell I don't see a problem with their powers being that high, specially considering what their newest enemies can do. Besides, all those Gainax-style not-really-religious details I've put here and there should point to the fact they are quite literally godlike.


	17. The eternal guardians

**Cyber Moon: Crystal.**

**Act 3: Aeons.**

**Episode 17: The eternal guardians.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: March 28, 2009_

* * *

The Younger Senshi had regrouped in Mars, but by the time they finished gathering, they knew the Elders weren't around anymore. "You think they are..."

Younger Mars shook her head. "No, Tsuki, they're okay. And there's no trace of the evil Younger Moon, either."

The mooncats appeared right then, all in their Senshi forms. "They are okay, Serenity sent me a message," Luna said, "they're going to face the one who's been sending those enemies against us."

"Why didn't they take us there?"

Black Lady appeared right next to the mooncats, smiling. "Because a group of weaklings such as yourselves would only be a hindrance to them."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Younger Saturn growled.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, brat. I'm not in the mood for fighting you, not until I become strong enough myself to defeat the Elders. "

"So what are you here for?"

"I've betrayed my current employer, and I don't really want to be there when he finds out what I've done... If he already hasn't. "

Younger Venus shrugged. "You know, someone as powerful as you could be quite an ally to have."

"Me, ally with your kin?"

"You can't be completely evil, or you would still be attacking us. "

"Don't misunderstand my actions," Black Lady snapped. "I'm not letting you off because I respect you. I just don't want to waste energy fighting enemies that have no chance to defeat me."

"See, you're not evil. Not as evil as that insane ChibiMoon that tried to kill me, even though I was a weakling."

Black Lady frowned. "Did you attack her?"

"No."

The evil woman laughed at that. "You know, you may be right, I'm not that kind of evil."

"Then what about the Kh'Sun ships?"

"They were on my way."

"That sounds evil enough to me," Younger Nemesis commented.

"Good," Black Lady said, "I think I'll go before the Elders come back, since I don't think I'll be able to fight them as I am now."

As the woman vanished, Luna chuckled. "She's scared."

"But why be scared? She has as much power as my mothers, or any of the others." Younger Saturn noted.

"Because whatever she did to help them, she did it so they could overpower whoever she's been working for. And if they do defeat that creature, it would mean becoming far stronger than she is."

"And, not being stupid, she knows they may not be thankful enough for her help, to forget all she did in the past."

Luna nodded at Younger Saturn. "That sums up what I guessed, yes."

Artemis frowned. "You think they can convince that creature to restore our planet?"

Luna looked up to the sky, to the point where the Earth should have been if it hadn't been reduced to small rocks. "Who knows... Maybe Serenity doesn't need someone else to do it by now."

"You mean she can be powerful enough to rebuild the Earth and revive everyone?" Younger Lilith asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Younger Mars admitted.

* * *

There was something wrong with the place the Elder Senshi were walking through. Or rather, something that felt right, but shouldn't feel like it. They were walking through a grassy plain, a thick forest could be seen in the distance, and a river was running in the same direction they were heading.

"This place, it feels like Earth," Venus finally said.

"That is," a voice noted, "because I wanted you to feel at home. One must be polite to one's guests, is that not right?"

Serenity frowned. All that politeness and calm tone of voice wouldn't wash away what he had done, what he had probably ordered others to do. "Show yourself!"

"Right, I forget your kin needs something to talk to. Please, forgive my manners." A figure materialized out of thin air, a man wearing a quite regal, black armor. His face was, for lack of other words, perfect, with black eyes and hair matching the armor's color.

"I suppose you're the one we should 'thank' for our world's disappearance."

"You are also the one to thank for you existing on the first place," the man noted, "but your kin, like many other races, seem to forget that."

"We are not toys you can play with until we break," Serenity said.

"I'm sorry to say that you are just that. And I am aware my boredom caused you many losses, but I am not one to worry about such meager things."

Mars frowned. "Who exactly are you?"

"I go by many names," the man said, "and I can adopt any form I choose to. You may call me God, Alah, Kami, Zeus, Ra, I really don't care which you choose."

"I thought a god was supposed to be one of the good guys."

The man laughed. "Yes, I know how legends go, of the omnipotent yet benevolent gods religions in many worlds believe in. Even when I send a meteor to vaporize one of their cities just because I'm bored, they talk of hidden meanings and blessings. I created both good and evil, and I really don't favor either, even though the side of evil has this tendency to die all too often."

"What's the name of your race?" Mercury asked. She was curious about this being, specially since her scanner kept on telling her he didn't exist. Apparently, magitek artifacts were the ultimate atheists.

The man smiled. "I could tell you that, but it wouldn't serve a purpose. Your limited minds won't be able to process at least seventeen of the sounds needed to say my name, let alone the name of my group."

"So there _are_ more like you."

"Yes, of course, and each of us has a rather large cluster of universes."

"I see. You're the ones that created our universes, then."

"Oh, of course not. We found these bubbles of reality you call universes many eons ago. We saw the potential entertainment they could provide for us. That's all we care about, and whoever did create them has never returned to claim ownership of them."

"Hmph, that's good. For a minute here, we thought you were omnipotent."

"True omnipotence is an impossibility. However, I know how your universe works, I've studied it. If I so wished, you wouldn't be standing here."

"Then why send all those enemies?"

"Oh, don't blame me for all of it. True, Black Lady is my creation, at least the one you're fighting now, and that one lunar Senshi you killed before coming here, well... You could say I created her."

"What did you do?"

The man turned serious and sat down on a chair that had just appeared. "I infused that world's main warrior, the one with the same soul as your Serenity here, with an extreme quantity of what you call Dark Mana. It was so much of it, it ate her soul away, leaving only the body, and used it to cause pain and suffering. A delightful creature, that Dark Mana."

"Delightful?" Serenity felt almost ready to tackle this man. But still, she knew she had to let him speak, to let him reveal any weaknesses he might have. He was quite visibly full of himself, and enemies like those often died because of their own ego.

"From my point of view, it is. See, I enjoy watching a lot of things, but I'm partial to wars, chaos and suffering. I could enjoy peaceful worlds, really, if they weren't so damn... Peaceful."

"Is ours the only universe you have that you can torture?"

"Of course not, I am no lowly god. In fact, right now, I'm making preparations for a war to erupt in one universe I've been following. "

"So you're an asshole to everyone, not just us," Dragon Mercury said, not really caring about being respectful to that monster.

"Oh, you are quite correct, my friend. I wouldn't really like if you started feeling special. I treat all my universes the same way."

"What about the other gods?"

"What about them? I haven't seen any of them in too much time to count. We keep out of each other's business and are happy to do so. "

"You said you created us," Serenity said, "but we saw how our powers were created."

"I wonder..." the man mused, "can your mind understand how it all really works?"

Mercury frowned. "You created Apsu? If that's the case, then everything falls into place."

"I didn't create her, but I used her for my amusement. See, you only went back in time to give that old lunar Senshi her powers, because Apsu was around. Apsu went back in time because I infused the idea of eliminating that first Senshi into her mind. Hence, she went back, and you followed her. If not for my intervention, dear Serenity, you would have been a normal teenager, probably wouldn't have met many of your friends, and would have died a millenia ago. "

"So what? Am I supposed to thank you for it?"

"I don't care if you don't. I just wanted to let you know that most of the things that turned you into the very skilled warrior you are today were there only because of my intervention."

"The hand of god can be the devil's claw," Dragon Mercury said, then shook his head. "Suppose we believe you. Are you expecting us to just walk away and wait for the next time you grow bored?"

The man stood up, his chair vanishing as soon as he had straightened himself. "I would be rather disappointed if you did. I didn't feed you with so much suffering and pain just to have you be submissive little ants, to use a simil you used. I let you in here simply because I'm bored, I've told you all you needed to know because I'm bored, and you're angry now and will fight me... Because I'm bored. "

Serenity smiled humorlessly. "He's got us, huh?"

Mars nodded. "If we fight him, we'll give him what he wants. If we don't fight him, then he'll probably just send more enemies after us. "

"One thing I would note is," the man said, "that it's not always me. The Hunters, for instance, weren't someone I created, or someone I gently pushed into the right direction. They were, to use a word of yours, assholes on their own account."

"Two of them changed."

"In the past, yes, and they did a lot of good after that. But in the future... Have you ever wondered why none of the other Senshi you met before haven't returned, why none of them ever contacted you again?"

Younger Moon paled. "Wait, you mean that they..."

"They efficiently eliminated every other Senshi in your universe. You're the only ones left. I must admit I'm impressed, a handful of creatures on a ship eliminated dozens of groups like yours, without me helping them in any way."

"Must suck to know they could do that, while you weren't able to kill us," Jupiter mused.

"It has never been my intention to kill you... And by that I mean kill you permanently. My life would be quite dull and boring if I went and eliminated the last worthy group of warriors on the side of good."

"Then I suppose we'll have to kill you so you stop bothering us."

The man looked at Saturn. "That's a nice plan, but you just don't know how much power I have, girl."

"That is true. My scanners aren't picking anything, and I can't sense your power," Saturn admitted. Mercury nodded in agreement.

"That is because your minds and your machines cannot grasp the level of power I have. You fighting me would be, to use an example you can understand, like a fly trying to destroy a star."

"I see. You're saying it's simply impossible for us to defeat you," Serenity said. "Didn't you hear? Nothing is impossible for us Senshi. "

"A nice motto, but it's about to be proven wrong," the man said. "Go ahead, since you're the guests here, you get to attack first."

The Senshi complied with that, sending all their attacks, using most of their mana into one single wave of attacks. Despite most of them expecting that result, it was still shocking when they saw the man stand there, taking every one of their impossibly strong attacks. Attacks which, as Mercury had explained them while they walked through the plain they were in now, would be more than enough to destroy any of the planets in their system.

But the man was there, his armor as flawless and polished as it had ever been, his face unchanged by the incredible wave of energy. He was, in fact, smiling. "Well, well, my dear friends. Now that you've attacked me, it's my turn."

Serenity braced herself for an attack, but it never came. The last thing she could see before she fell unconscious, was the man smiling at her, the same unfriendly, mocking smile he had shown them since he first appeared before them.

* * *

As she opened her eyes again, she was confused. She was lying on her back, on a bed, under a familiar roof. She sat on the bed (her bed,) and looked around. Yes, this was indeed her room, the room she had when she was a teenager.

She could sense something else, or rather... She couldn't sense her own powers anymore. She tried to mentally call upon them, only to find that she couldn't transform. Walking to the mirror, she saw in its reflection what she was expecting. Not Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo staring back at her, but the young Usagi Tsukino. What was that bastard planning? It wasn't even the first time something like this happened, a dream she had to wake up from. However, she wasn't waking up, even after realizing that.

"That is, because this is no dream. This is your reality now, and will be for as long as I want," a voice said from everywhere around her. She searched around the room, but the man wasn't there. The voice continued, "your friends are going through the same, and I'm really having a lot of fun watching them struggle against it. So, let's see how you fare when you are really powerless."

She frowned. The voice was silent now, and she hadn't bothered answering to it. Powerless, was she really... "Moon Prism Power!" No, not even her most basic transformation worked. Looking at the calendar on the wall she could figure out where she was. Back in the late twentieth century, of course, but if her memory was as good as she thought it was, she should have been Sailor Moon by now.

She walked out of her room, already trying to think of a way to get out of this reality before anything went wrong. As she walked in, her mother looked at her with some amusement.

"Hello, Usagi. Finally decided to listen to your alarm clock?"

Usagi sighed. "Yeah." She remembered how she used to be back then, yes, and she wasn't proud of it. As she looked at the newspaper her father was reading, she smiled. "The Senshi were seen again?"

"I don't know who they are, but they're being spotted a lot lately," Kenji commented.

"Sailors Mars, Mercury and Jupiter..." Usagi read as she ate her breakfast. "No Sailor Moon?"

"Is there a Sailor Moon? I didn't know."

Usagi cringed. She had a theory on what exactly was wrong with this reality, but she hoped she was wrong. "Where's Luna?"

"Luna?"

"Let me guess, we don't have a pet cat?"

"Are you feeling okay, Usagi?" Ikuko said, worriedly.

"Yes, I'm okay," Usagi said dismissively. She looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. "I better get ready for school."

Shingo walked in right then and blinked in surprise. "Wait, you woke up before I did? Something must be wrong with the universe."

"That's what I've been thinking since I woke up," Usagi said then walked out of the kitchen."

* * *

School wasn't much different than she remembered, besides the fact Ami, Mako and Terry were ignoring her. Or, she realized, maybe it was just that this version of her friends weren't her friends. It all made sense, too, if she wasn't Sailor Moon, then that meant she hadn't met the others. That saddened her a bit, were they all together only because of their powers? No, that couldn't be true.

"What's wrong, Usagi?"

She forced a smile as she looked at Umino. "Nothing, don't worry."

Umino didn't seem too convinced by it. "Right."

The bell rang, and Usagi sighed in relief. At least school was over for the day, and she intended to find out how to get out of that reality before the day was over. She was worried about the others, of course, but knew she couldn't do a thing to help them as long as she couldn't solve her own problems.

* * *

Naru had tagged along on her way home, and Usagi felt a bit of nostalgia as they walked. She wasn't unhappy with the life she led, but a part of her apparently missed the old days, before she became a queen.

"Usagi, have you heard about the new fashion store that opened near Osa-P?"

That piqued her interest. Old Usagi would have not suspected a thing, but Serenity knew better. She knew all those discount sales and new places were the youma's doomed-to-fail ways of gathering mana. "We should go check it out."

And so they did. While Usagi was aware that she was powerless, she also remembered all the training she'd had, she could still fight even if she couldn't throw magic at her foes. Upon entering the store, she smiled. The store clerk was giving them a friendly smile, but she could see the hatred for humans most youma had, deep inside.

"Welcome, what may I do for you, young ladies?"

"We're just checking this store out, we may come back later to buy something."

"Go ahead, then, feel free to try on any dress you like."

Usagi looked around. She wasn't completely powerless, she could still sense some things (maybe she had always been able to, but wasn't aware of it back then?) and one of the things she sensed almost made her cheer. "I think I'll pass."

"Stop it right there!" Her senses weren't wrong. She looked to the side and saw Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Zero there, all glaring at the clerk.

The woman hissed at them. "Senshi!"

"Stay put while we blast you to pieces," Zero said.

The creature turned to its true form, a cyan-scaled salamander-like monster, and rose Usagi by the neck before she could react. "I don't think so, kids. You're all going to stand very still, unless you want me to kill this human."

"Damn it," Mars muttered. "Mercury?"

"I'm on it," Mercury said, her visor appearing over her eyes.

Usagi was mentally cursing. She hadn't reacted in time, and now her friends were torn between killing the monster and saving her. Suddenly, she could see something in her mind. Something... Of course! Now she knew what Black Lady had meant by helping her. She had no power of her own in this world, but what about...

Sailor Mars' mind didn't quite registed what had happened until the youma's body was already vanishing. That blonde girl with the stupid hairstyle had blasted a hole through the youma's chest? "What are you?"

"Now I know what that saying means," Usagi said, not really paying attention to the Senshi. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer..."

Mars was about to repeat her question, but the girl vanished before she could. "Huh, what the heck was that girl?"

Mercury was pale. "I don't know, but I'm glad she didn't attack us. I couldn't get a clear reading on her, but her power is far beyond the scale."

"Same old," Zero said.

"Not quite. If the numbers I saw were true, that girl could have probably blasted all Tokyo to dust on a whim."

"So she was playing with the youma?"

"So it seems."

"Wow, we should ask her to join us," Jupiter said.

"That's a good idea," Mars admitted, "I'll ask her, if I ever see her again."

* * *

"How?"

Serenity smiled. She was back, back at that grassy plain, and she could see all of her friends lying unconscious, all around her. "How, you ask? I thought you were omniscent."

"Don't believe everything you read," the man said.

Serenity's smile didn't falter as she looked at him. "You created something that could destroy you."

"That's simply impossible," the man said, then reached out with all his senses. "You, your powers are..."

"I've told you before, nothing's impossible for us Senshi. Though, in this case, I have to thank someone I consider my worst enemy, and I must also thank your own carelessness."

"Black Lady," the man said, finally understanding what had happened. indeed, that woman had given Serenity her one exclusive skill, the one that allowed her to copy any power anyone used on her. He never considered it possible for anyone to be able to copy _his_ powers, though. Still, upon that realization, he just laughed. "This is very amusing, Serenity. What do you hope to gain with this? We're equals now, you can't defeat me and I can't defeat you."

"We're not the same, and you're weaker than you think. See, you didn't create our universe, you admit to that. So you don't really know how strong those created by them could be. For a so-called god, you're extremely overconfident, and overconfidence has never been a good thing to have when you're facing a Senshi."

"I still say you can't defeat me," the man said, his anger rising. What was with this useless human, thinking she could defeat him like that? He had been toying with her for a whole millenia, he knew all her weaknesses, _he was her god_. "But enough chatter, girl, and _die!_"

Serenity felt a wave of energy hit her, yes, and for a moment she felt intense pain running through her body. But then, something she had counted on happened. The Ginzuishou lit up, and the pain vanished. "I'm sorry, but I cannot die now, not when all my friends are counting on me to win. And speaking of my friends..."

The man was confused for a moment. He saw colored spheres shooting out of the bodies of all the fallen Senshi, and they all fused with Serenity's body. Her suit, once again, changed, becoming golden instead of its usual white, and her many wings were replaced by large, golden wings made of pure energy. It couldn't be happening. He couldn't be defeated. He and his race, they were all immortal!

Serenity smiled. "See, the reason I'm stronger than you is not just because of that crystal, which, by the way, was created by the same who created the multiverse." She now knew that, as the crystal itself had 'told' her that fact. "It's also because I'm not some lonely, bored man whose only goal is to torture others for his own amusement. I have friends, I have a family."

"Don't give me that look!" the man said. Gone was his calm, overconfident facade. It was something one of his kin had warned him about, the last time she visited him, many eons ago. _'If you keep on causing pain, then that pain is sooner or later going to come back to haunt you. We can only be destroyed by that which we create. '_

The woman in front of her, however, wasn't looking at him with anger, or hatred, or even superiority. It was much worse. He could see it in her eyes. She _pitied_ him.

"I was born to fight evil, and your actions are those of an evil being. I can see in you, that you won't ever change your ways, so for the sake of my friends and my universe, I will defeat you."

"Amusing last words," the man said and vanished.

Serenity looked around. The area changed from the plains they had been on, to a cavern, and the temperature was steadily rising. She concentrated, and the cavern was gone, leaving only a white, empty nothingness, with her and her friends floating amidst it all. "So this is how it really looks like."

"Boring, isn't it?" the man's voice said. He appeared meters away from Serenity and laughed. "You are amusing, dear. See, your kin has limits, your power output may be extremely high, but your energy reserves have been drained constantly, and you are cut from the source of your power, as long as you're here."

Serenity knew all that, she could feel her own energy was quite low. Still, she wouldn't give up, she had to destroy this creature, for the sake of her universe, for the sake of her friends.

"It's unfortunate that you chose to become a dangerous creature, however. I didn't think you could get so close to my own power, but now that you are like this, I must destroy you... And your friends, too."

Serenity saw the man reaching his hand out, and a large, black beam shot out of it. She countered it with her own beam. White versus black, light versus darkness, it seemed somehow fitting to her that this last power struggle reflected how her life had always been.

The man laughed. Little by little, his beam was gaining the upper hand, growing closer and closer to the woman, who was visibly straining to keep her own attack going. "Give it up, Serenity, you can't defeat me."

"Maybe she can't."

"But what about all of us, together?"

Serenity didn't need to look back to know her friends were waking up, and they were all more than ready to help. "Welcome back, everyone."

"Impossible! How did you free yourselves from..."

"Impossible, huh? That word is overrated," Dragon Mercury mused. "See, we felt Serenity's struggle, we knew she needed us. I don't know about the others, but even without my powers, a lousy youma or two aren't going to stop me from helping my friends. She helped, of course... Part of the reason why she's right now struggling, because she used a lot of her own power to help us break free."

The man chuckled. "So what... What can you do against me?"

"One Senshi is powerful," Mercury noted, "but when we fight in groups, our powers go beyond their own limits. I suppose you were too busy squealing at our pain and despair to notice the important things."

"Let's help her," Younger Moon said, "give her all your energy."

"No," Moon said, "I'd rather not risk it. We have to use something stronger."

Mars cringed. "But with our current powers, are you sure you can... "

Mercury nodded. "She can do it. She's far beyond Aeon now."

"Alright, then," Mars said. "You heard her, put all your energy into your shots!"

In unison, the Senshi shot their strongest attacks straight at Serenity. The Queen channeled them all flawlessly, turning her own beam into a multi-colored, swirling spiral of energy. She didn't say a word, either, as she had said all she had to say to this monster.

The man saw the beam rapidly forcing his own beam back, and simply couldn't believe his eyes. "No, this cannot be. You're not meant to be stronger than me, I am your god! This is not fair!"

Not fair? Serenity glared at the man. What right did _he_ of all beings have to complain about that? "Moon Aeon Power!"

That did it, the man's attack was pierced through by Serenity's one, and he let out a scream of pain and shock before an explosion swallowed him whole.

The Senshi stared at that. Yes, it had become their goal to defeat that so-called god, but to actually see it happen was quite a shock. "He's gone?"

Serenity turned and smiled at Venus. "Yes, not a trace of him is left."

"Good," Venus muttered, "for the first time in my life, I don't feel any regret at all for killing someone."

Saturn looked around. "You know, I can somehow understand his boredom. If this is how his world really looks like..."

Dragon Earth walked to Serenity, or rather Sailor Moon. "You look prettier than ever."

Moon blushed slightly. "Thanks..."

"Think we'll get one like that too?" Jupiter joked.

"I'll pass, I don't like that color," Saturn noted.

"So what do we tell the religious guys back home?" Dragon Venus asked.

"That we killed an alien superbeing who was responsible for the destruction of Earth," Moon said, "it's better if they don't know what that superbeing was."

"Back home, though..." Nemesis noted, "we'll have to move to a new planet."

Moon smiled. "We won't. I fixed that already."

Younger Moon blinked at her a few times before finding her voice. "You restored the Earth that fast?"

"What can I say... Nothing is impossible for us Senshi."

"Okay, let's get out of here before this guy's friends come to see what's going on."

"They won't," Moon said.

Mercury frowned. "How do you know... Oh, nevermind, let's just get out of here."

"Done," Moon said, and they all vanished.

* * *

"Mother, there's an unknown creature attacking Venus. We're going to investigate now."

Serenity smiled at the screen. "Have fun."

"You could eliminate that creature yourself. From where you stand, even."

Serenity nodded at Luna. "Of course, but guess I'm still a lazy girl, even after all these centuries."

Luna nodded. "Some things will never change. But it's good to see that you didn't let your power go to your head."

"The power on itself isn't evil, it's how you use it... And I've learnt to use it just for the important things."

Serenity's statement would have worked a lot better, if she hadn't said that while she summoned a tray with cake. Luna shook her head at that. "But you think it was okay to let her leave?"

The Queen nodded. "Black Lady helped us this time around. It's a step towards our side, maybe with time she will understand why I let her go."

"I see your point, but you know I am not as easily trusting of others. Specially one who's killed countless millions."

"A damage that was repaired," Serenity said. "And thanks to our Kh'Dhar friends, we finally have the means to reach other stars."

"About that, Ami says their first prototype is ready."

"Okay then, I'll go see it," Serenity said, then vanished.

Luna stared at the spot where Serenity had been for a few seconds before walking out of the room. "She's as weird as ever, but I'm glad she's still the Usagi I met back then."

* * *

Younger Moon stared at the bluish stain that had been a large lizard-like monster moments earlier. "Twenty seconds."

"Yeah, they definitely don't make monsters as tough as they used to, " Saturn joked.

"I don't know if I should be glad for that, or disappointed," Younger Moon said. "There's truly nothing strong for us to fight here."

"What about Terry's project? Maybe we could go on a trip."

"Exploration is nice and good, but I doubt we'll find anything worth our time out there."

"You're selling the universe short," Saturn said, "even without that monster sending hordes after us, I'm sure sooner or later we'll be facing another strong foe."

"I hope so, or we won't have anything to do at all."

"Why, am I that boring a woman to you?"

"You know that's not what I mean, but I'll have to ask Pluto about something."

"Hmm? And what would that be?"

"If I told you, then I would ruin the surprise."

"Please do, I hate surprises."

"I know, and that's why I'm not telling you."

* * *

"You're late."

Serenity chuckled. "Yes, I can still manage to do that."

"In any case," Ami said, "we've already tested our prototype. It doubles the speed of light easily, and it could probably break that mark tenfold if we work on it for long enough."

"What about the crew, wouldn't it be affected by such a speed?"

Terry looked up from the computer he was typing on. "We're going to test that ourselves."

"If it doesn't affect us," Ami continued, before Serenity could protest, "then we'll have some of our scientists here..."

"Using humans for tests like that..." Serenity interrupted, but then fell silent.

"It's the only way to know, and we're not forcing anyone to do it," Terry countered. "If everything goes well, we may be able to build a ship that takes us to the nearest star in one year. And we'll search for other ways to improve such a vehicle."

"You think what he said was true? That no other Senshi is left out there?"

"We will eventually find out," Terry said. "But Serenity... Usagi, keep in mind that if that is true, then our exploration project could be a failure."

"I had thought about that already," Serenity admitted, "and I know the answer for that problem."

"You do?"

"Of course," Serenity said, "just get that ship ready, and I'll tell you once that's done."

Ami saw Serenity vanish and sighed in defeat. "Somedays I'd just love to rant her ears off about being so childish."

"Let her have her fun," Terry said, "unless you want her to be like that guy from the Hyperspace?"

"I'll pass," Ami muttered.

* * *

Serenity stared up to the stars. She was, literally, on the edge of the solar system. The planet Nemesis, a place she had visited a few times in the past, and also the planet that was farther away from the Sun. She looked up and smiled. It had always been a dream of mankind to one day reach for the stars, and that dream was now closer than ever. What the future would hold for her and her friends, she couldn't tell, and she didn't mind. She was happy to know they would always be there when she needed them.

Her lifespan was both a blessing and a curse, and she took both sides willingly. It had, centuries ago, seemed almost dreadful to live for an eternity, but now she had come to accept her fate. She and her Senshi, if what that man had said was true, were probably the last remaining group of those who had been created to protect this galaxy.

Maybe there were others out there, in the other galaxies, but she couldn't know that, at least not yet. Maybe one day, they would reach the limits of the galaxy and then explore all other galaxies as well... But she feared trying to calculate just how long that would take, how many generations of humans would be needed for that to happen.

But for the time being, she was happy to just sit at the border of her race's home system, and stare up to the stars. Her mind took her back to the past, to the day when she found that weird black cat. If she knew all that would happen because of that meeting, would she still choose to become a Senshi?

She smiled at that thought. That was no question at all for her. Sailor Moon wasn't what she had become that day, it was what she had always been, what she would always be. And if that meant eternally defending her world and her race, then she was glad to accept that duty.

Younger Moon appeared right next to her, also looking up. "Can you see them?" It was a question that needed not be answered, though, for Serenity's senses reached further than any other Senshi's senses could.

"Yes. I don't think they're here for a social visit." Serenity calmly stared up, stared at the same thing she had been staring all along. An alien invasion fleet, possibly thousands of ships, and they were all heading for their system. "I don't suppose we can talk them out of invading us?"

"I hope we can't," Younger Moon said.

"They'll be here in three days," Serenity noted, "so we've got time to get ready for it."

"I would like it if the Elders didn't help this time around."

Serenity considered that for a few moments, then nodded. "Unless they reach the Earth, we will not act." She trusted her daughter, and if she thought that the Younger Senshi were enough to take care of... She looked up again. No, she was right, The Elder Senshi could, right now, take care of those ships in a matter of minutes. And as much as she knew her friends were eager to beat down aliens, she also wanted to know just how strong the Younger Senshi could be.

There were no doubts about it, the future would be many things, but boring wasn't one of them.

* * *

_**Cyber Moon: Aeons - Started November 2, 2008. Completed March 28, 2009.**_

* * *

**A/N:** Hope reading this story was as fun as it was writing it. There are several sequels and side-stories I've planned for this, but I also want to take a look at my other projects (those not for Sailor Moon) and see if I want to finish writing any of them.

For Cyber Moon itself, however, this was the final episode.


End file.
